How to Solve Nucleic Acid Contamination

Only PCR analysis in combination with DNA degradation assays show the true decontamination potential of a reagent.

Written byAppliChem
| 2 min read
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Problem 1. Incomplete degradation of DNA: Advanced experiments in gene technology demonstrate that even small amounts of free DNA molecules are sufficient to cause infections, recombination or biological transformation. The complete decontamination of equipment and surfaces from DNA molecules is important for biological containment and safety, as well as preventing artifacts in PCR amplification experiments. Commercially available DNA decontamination reagents DO NOT destroy DNA molecules efficiently, despite their corrosive or even toxic properties.

Problem 2. Corrosion: Elimination of nucleic acids depends on the use of corrosive and toxic substances that cause irreversible damage on surfaces of costly equipment.

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