Isolation of RNA, no matter what the source, is nerve wracking, but especially when samples are limited or irreplaceable.  Because RNA is so labile, working quickly but carefully is the key. There are ways to protect your RNA during the procedure so that you can work at a relaxed pace and without so much anxiety. Today I’d like [...]

I’ve had the great pleasure of working directly with this week’s featured scientist, Bradley Tolar. I met Bradley at the ISME conference in 2010 and was intrigued by all of the exciting marine microbiology work under study in the Hollibaugh lab at the University of Georgia.  Since then we’ve been collaborating on projects together.  One of  them involves evaluating [...]

As part of our research on the best practices for soil microbial DNA extraction, we collect a wide variety of samples for product development. So when we were developing the protocols for the PowerLyzer, we wanted a protocol that worked for most of the samples tested.  Our work on homogenization and bead tubes previously showed that depending on the [...]

When it comes to isolating DNA and RNA from all kinds of samples, the fastest and most thorough approach is high speed bead beating.  Whether you have microbes, mouse tissues, plant seeds and leaves, or difficult soils, homogenization using beads will break open cell walls and membranes and release the desired DNA and RNA so it [...]

One of the most efficient ways to extract nucleic acids from a sample is by smashing it against a hard surface repeatedly under high speed until cell walls and membranes crush from the pressure and release their internal contents. In other words: bead beating.

Most of you are probably back to work after the ASM conference in San Diego. It was a great conference with a lot of exciting talks and posters and we hope you enjoyed our beautiful city.
We would like to send out some special thanks to researchers who collaborated with us to make this one of MO BIO’s [...]

In a previous article, we discussed the basic characteristics of biofilm samples and factors that influence sample prep and handling. Today we want to share with you some very important tips for isolation of DNA or RNA from biofilm samples.  After working with numerous different biofilms and biomats, these recommendations are based on our experience and [...]