Facts About DNA Isolation

DNA isolation is the process of separating the DNA from the proteins and other substances in the cell. DNA is present in the cells of every living creature on this planet. The DNA is like your Universal ID. something like a unique registration signed by the Universe. But in order to read this information, scientists have to perform certain steps to get to the DNA itself and this entire process what people refer to as DNA isolation.

DNA is a single molecule, and one of the largest known. But in order to work read it, scientists have to extract it from the surround cellular materials. Although DNA can be isolated from most types of cells, the most common approach is to separate it from the cells contained in whole blood. This consists of several different steps that are performed prior to the symposium because of time constraints. A very small amount of blood can provide a very large amount of DNA.

The process of DNA Isolation consists of the following three stages, each of which requiring a special chemical reaction: breaking the cells open to expose the DNA inside them; remove the membrane; precipitating the DNA. Precipitating the DNA is done with the use of an alcohol compound. Every stage is associated with the use of certain chemicals. As for example in the third stage, alcohol is used because DNA molecules in the mixture are negatively charged, while the alcohol is not electrically charged. The result is an electrical imbalance that causes the DNA molecules to be no longer soluble.

Seven different DNA isolation kits are commercial available and tested for their ability to recover three different dilutions of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA for PCR amplification. The kits included in the comparison are - Mitochondrial DNA Extraction Kit, Puregene(R) DNA Isolation Kit (PG) (Gentra Systems, Inc.), Generation(TM) Capture Column(R) Kit (GCC) (Gentra Systems, Inc.), MasterPure(R) DNA Purification Kit (MP) (Epicentre Technologies), IsoQuick(R) Nucleic Acid Extraction Kit (IQ) (MicroProbe Corp.), QIAamp(R) Blood Kit (QIA) (QIAGEN(R), Inc.), and NucliSens(R) Isolation Kit (NS) (Organon Teknika Corp.).

BioVision is a company specializing in DNA analysis and they offer two DNA isolation kits - Genomic DNA Isolation Kit, Genomic DNA Isolation Kit. The Mitochondrial DNA Extraction Kit provides convenient tools for isolating mtDNA from a variety of cells and tissues in high yield and purity, without contaminations from genomic DNA. The purified mtDNA can be used for a range of different studies like enzyme manipulations, Southern blotting, cloning, PCR analysis, and amplifications. The Genomic DNA Isolation Kit provides a simple and convenient procedure for fast isolation of genomic DNA from mammalian cells and tissue samples with high yield and purity.