TriLink BioTechnologies Inc. of San Diego has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant of approximately $100,000. In the Phase I study, the company will investigate its second approach for Hot Start activation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This technique, which employs chemically modified triphosphates to inhibit DNA polymerase activity until a thermal activation step, has shown significant promise toward reducing off-target amplification products in PCR.