The Protein Man's Blog | A Discussion of Protein Research

Plasmid isolation is crucial to biology and an essential step in various procedures, including cloning, DNA sequencing, transfection, in vitro translation, blotting, and gene therapy. However, these applications require the isolation of high-purity plasmid DNA. Whereas genomic DNA extraction is simple and straightforward, plasmid DNA extraction can be more complicated.

A DNA Polymerase is a vital biological enzyme that is present in DNA replication. In the process, DNA copies into two daughter DNA molecules and synthesizes a new DNA strand from the existing strand by adding dNTPs to the growing DNA.

The polymerase chain reaction is a widely used technique for amplification of DNA products for genetic studies, DNA fingerprinting, clinical diagnostics, forensics and many more. Non-specific amplification of PCR products and the formation of primer dimers are the major problems during a PCR reaction. The main reason is due to the mild activity of polymerases at low temperatures and the binding of primers at nonspecific sites. As a result, even before the start of PCR amplification non-specific gene products and primer dimers are formed. The yield of target DNA is reduced as the polymerase, nucleotides, and primers are consumed. Hot start PCR methods are used to avoid this problem. 

Genomic DNA extraction is an important part of the process when it comes to studying DNA. Pure DNA, separated from the proteins and fluid of cells, is needed on its own in order to be used for various molecular applications. These analyses can include cloning, sequencing, electrophoresis, and fingerprinting.