nonamplifying

Nonamplifying is an adjective used to describe something that does not cause amplification. The term combines the prefix non- with amplifying, the present participle of amplify, and is used across diverse disciplines to indicate that the magnitude, strength, or size of a signal or entity does not increase.

In molecular biology and biotechnology, nonamplifying is often applied to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) contexts to indicate a reaction that does not yield a detectable product. Nonamplifying primers or templates may fail to bind, be degraded, or be inhibited, and nonamplifying controls are used to show that negative results are not due to assay failure.

In diagnostic methods, nonamplifying detection describes approaches that do not rely on amplification to reveal a signal, typically offering lower sensitivity than amplification-based methods.

In electronics, nonamplifying refers to circuits or components that do not provide gain, including passive networks and buffers whose role is impedance matching or signal conditioning without increasing amplitude.

In systems biology or genetics, the term may describe regulatory interactions that do not propagate or amplify a response, instead stabilizing or dampening signals.

See also amplification, PCR, gain, attenuation, and passive circuit.