- In the center of molecular biology is one species of molecules: DNA.
- DNA molecules are amplified and introduced into organisms by transformation or transfection, separated, stained, examined under the microscope, manipulated, sequenced and so on.
For all these techniques the initial step is to isolate DNA from the origin of interest.
This page provides you an overview of the different methods for nucleic acid isolation and offers a number of must-have reagents to obtain pure DNA and/or RNA from various sources.
Introduction
What does it mean technically when we talk about DNA extraction, isolation or purification - terms often used synonymously for getting preferably pure DNA from a sample? What are the mechanisms behind? How is it possible to separate distinct species of DNA?
On this page we focus on the isolation of the two DNA species that are mainly isolated in molecular biology labs - genomic DNA and bacterial plasmids. We give an overview about established DNA isolation techniques, their chemical background and we discuss their respective advantages and limitations.
Regarding the basic procedure, DNA extraction is simple and can be done using domestic products. Basically, all you require is a rich source of DNA, salt, water, dishwashing detergent, a coffee filter, high-proof alcohol and a stick to spool the precipitated DNA salt out of solution. For higher demands (regarding quantity and quality), of course, the method requires further refinement.
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