Nucleic acid extraction

Application Scenarios

1. Medical Diagnosis Field
   • In infectious disease testing, such as the detection of COVID – 19, influenza virus, hepatitis B virus, etc., nucleic acid extraction reagents are used to extract viral nucleic acids from patients’ clinical samples (such as throat swabs, nasal swabs, blood, etc.). The obtained nucleic acids are then detected by nucleic acid amplification techniques (such as PCR) to determine whether the patient is infected with the corresponding virus.
   • In the diagnosis of genetic diseases, they are used to extract DNA from samples such as amniotic fluid, chorionic villi, and peripheral blood for genetic analysis and diagnosis, helping to determine whether there are chromosomal abnormalities, single – gene genetic diseases, etc.
2. Biological Research Field
   • In molecular biology research, whether it is gene cloning, gene expression analysis, or gene mutation detection, nucleic acid extraction from various biological samples is required, and nucleic acid extraction reagents are essential. For example, when studying the expression of a certain gene in different tissues, RNA needs to be extracted from multiple tissue samples, and suitable nucleic acid extraction reagents can ensure the extraction of high – quality RNA for subsequent reverse transcription and quantitative PCR experiments.
   • In genomics and transcriptomics research, large – scale sample processing requires efficient and stable nucleic acid extraction reagents. After extracting nucleic acids from a large number of biological samples, high – throughput sequencing and other analyses are carried out to reveal the gene composition, gene expression patterns, and regulatory mechanisms of organisms.

Key Points of Quality Control

1. Purity and Integrity
   • Nucleic acid extraction reagents should ensure that the extracted nucleic acids have high purity, that is, minimizing the residues of impurities such as proteins, polysaccharides, and salts. At the same time, the integrity of nucleic acids should be ensured. Especially when extracting RNA, because RNA is easily degraded by RNase in the environment, the reagents need to be able to inhibit the activity of RNase to ensure the extraction of complete RNA molecules, which is crucial for subsequent experiments such as reverse transcription and gene expression analysis.
2. Extraction Efficiency
   • High – quality nucleic acid extraction reagents should have high extraction efficiency and be able to extract as much nucleic acid as possible from small – quantity samples. For example, when processing small – quantity clinical samples (such as blood samples for early tumor screening, which may only contain a small amount of nucleic acids released by tumor cells), the extraction efficiency of the reagents directly affects the sensitivity and accuracy of subsequent tests.
3. Batch – to – batch Stability
   • During the production process, the performance of nucleic acid extraction reagents should be stable among different batches. There should be no significant batch differences in terms of the content of main components, the pH value of the reagents, or the overall extraction effect. This is very important for ensuring the reproducibility and reliability of experimental results, especially in large – scale sample testing and long – term research projects.
4. Absence of Nuclease Contamination
   • The reagents themselves should not contain nucleases, especially RNase (for RNA extraction reagents). If the reagents are contaminated with nucleases, nucleic acids will be degraded during the extraction process, making the extracted nucleic acids unusable for subsequent experiments. Strict measures need to be taken during the production process to prevent the introduction of nucleases, such as using nuclease – free water and raw materials and producing in a sterile environment.
5. Compatibility
   • Nucleic acid extraction reagents should have good compatibility with common nucleic acid extraction instruments and subsequent detection methods. For example, when using a specific nucleic acid extraction instrument, the reagents should be able to work normally under the instrument’s operating conditions (such as temperature, sampling volume, centrifugal speed, etc.) and extract nucleic acids that meet the requirements. At the same time, the extracted nucleic acids should be able to be smoothly used for subsequent nucleic acid tests (such as PCR, sequencing, etc.) without affecting the test results due to reagent residues and other issues.