DNA Extraction Services

BioServe has 15 years of experience with genomic DNA Isolation from nearly all biomaterials including whole blood, blood clots, buffy coats, PMBCs, nuclear pellets, serum, saliva, mouthwash, buccal swabs, cytobrushes, plant material, cultured cells, fresh and frozen tissues and paraffin embedded tissues. BioServe utilizes different types of reagents based on the type of biomaterials. The most common reagents used for DNA Purification are DNAQuikTM reagents developed by BioServe. DNAQuikTM reagents are non-organic and yield good quality, high molecular weight genomic DNA. BioServe has utilized DNAQuikTM reagents for DNA Extraction from a variety of tissues. BioServe utilizes organic reagents to obtain high quality DNA from buccal swabs and cytobrushes.

Genomic DNA is quantitated by measuring optical density at 260 nm and A280 nm wavelengths. Samples that traditionally yield small quantity of DNA or have bacterial DNA are quantitated using Real-Time PCR using a probe specific for human DNA. BioServe also has capabilities to provide Picogreen quantitation.

Quality of DNA is determined by electrophoresing a small quantity of DNA (25 ng to 200 ng) on 1% agarose gel. BioServe typically performs quality check on 10% of the samples. In case of mouthwash, buccal swabs, cytobrushes, and paraffin embedded tissues, quantitation by Real-Time PCR also serves as a quality check. The quality of some DNA samples isolated at BioServe has been assayed after 15 years, and determined to be of high quality after storage in -70°C.

Genomic DNA isolated at BioServe has been utilized in several molecular biology and genomics applications. These include SNP analysis by MassARRAY (Sequenom), Masscode (Qiagenomics), Beadchip Array (Illumina), GeneChip Array (Affymetrix) and TaqMan (ABI).

For details of our protocols and QA assays, please view our online presentation.