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A CLASSROOM CLASSIC

Mystery microcentrifuge tube

The cover of 'Practical biotechnology' included a microcentrifuge tube, which may have struck readers as being odd, since no such tubes were used in any of the practical investigations.

Until a week before the booklet was sent to the printers, however, gel electrophoresis of lambda DNA (with tubes) had been included in the publication.

It was left out because its inclusion would have affected a patent application that was being made for the NCBE's gel electrophoresis equipment.

Isolation of DNA from cells is the first step in many investigations in molecular biology. The method described here is an adaptation of the 'Marmur preparation' which is used in laboratories throughout the world.

First, tissue is broken up mechanically. Detergent helps to degrade both the cell membranes and those surrounding the nuclei. Cell fragments are separated by filtration; the DNA and soluble proteins remain. An enzyme removes the protein, then the DNA is precipitated using ice-cold ethanol.

This practical protocol is adapted from A Sourcebook of Biotechnology Activities by Alison Rasmussen and Robert Matheson (1990) National Association of Biology Teachers / North Carolina Biotechnology Center. ISBN: 0 941212 09 2. The full publication is available from the NABT, 11250 Roger Bacon Drive #19, Reston, Virginia 22090, United States of America.

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