Methods for retrieving and reamplifying the differentially expressed cDNA bands have been modified. Direct reamplification of differentially expressed bands after cutting from a polyacrylamide gel (PAG) followed by a simple rinse and crush step has proved to be more convenient and effective than the traditional glycogen-precipitation method. Combination of 30 cycles of differential display (DD) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 20 cycles of standard PCR reaction also yielded higher reamplification rates.