A Quick Look At Nucleic Acid Isolation

The extraction of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), and protein, also known as nucleic acid isolation, is the most basic of methods which are used in the study of molecular biology. The process is performed primarily for subsequent downstream analytical processes or preparative purposes. Nucleic acid isolation is used to be a complicated, labour-intensive, time-consuming, and highly limited process where overall throughput is concerned. Today, however, there are several specialized methods of isolating and extracting bio-molecules.

Even the manual method of nucleic acid isolation has come a long way with several commercial offerings that include complete kits with most of the necessary components for isolating nucleic acid. But, manual methods often require a number of centrifugation steps, which are followed by the removal of supernatants which will depend largely on the specimen type and any additional mechanical treatment. For this reason, the demand for automated systems which are designed for personal use in medium-to-large laboratories has risen in recent years.

These automated nucleic acid isolation systems are good alternatives to the usual labour-intensive manual way of extracting or isolating DNA and RNA. This new technology they use allows for better output of samples as well as optimal purity, yield, scalability, and reproductivity of the bio-molecules being extracted. The accuracy, speed and reliability of assay are also maximal with these automated systems, while the possibility of cross-contamination is kept to a minimum. Successful nucleic acid isolation and purification generally requires four important steps, and these are:

1.The effective disruption of tissues or cells
2.The denaturation of nucleoprotein complexes
3.The inactivation of nucleuses
4.The prevention of contamination

There are currently several specialized methods of nucleic acid isolation, categorized into conventional methods and solid-phase extraction of nucleic acid. Conventional methods include the following:

1.Guanidinium TPC Extraction
2.Alkaline Extraction Method
3.CTAB Extraction Method
4.EtBr-CsCl Gradient Centrifugation
5.Purification of Poly (A)+ RNA by Oligp(dT)-Cellulose Chromatography

Solid-phase nucleic acid isolation and purification is usually found in commercial extraction kits currently available. It provides quicker and more efficient isolation than conventional methods. A good example of a commercial nucleic acid isolation system is the VERSA Mini NAP/PCR workstation of Aurora Biomed. This workstation is designed to perform just about any task associated with nucleic acid isolation and purification. It delivers high precision, significant throughput, and accuracy.

Modern testing permutations require an increasingly large number of samples per trial. When nucleic acid isolation is done manually, the large number of samples tends to tie up the staff for prolonged periods and often leads to inconsistent results. Furthermore, technicians doing manual isolation are often exposed to harmful reagents such as phenols. These drawbacks are what make automated systems like the VERSA even more preferable by laboratories worldwide.

The VERSA has built-in temperature control and multi-well plate shaker. It also offers you a choice between a magnetic block and a vacuum manifold. With these features, the VERSA is able to effectively and efficiently perform automated nucleic acid isolation along with the preparation of samples for PCR and other applications. This workstation can definitely help you save on expensive reagents and eliminate concerns commonly associated with large samples.