The use of UV transilluminators for the detection of DNA or RNA in agarose gels, is still very common, although we know quite well that the shorter the wavelength is, the more the DNA will be damaged quickly, which is dangerous especially if the separated DNA should be used in downstream experiments like cloning or sequencing. Just seconds of UV light is enough to reduce the cloning efficiency significantly.
In contrast to UV instruments, the new innovative LED technology uses a much higher wavelength, which means energy-less light. This will lead to the fact that the nucleic acids are not damaged but sometimes sensitivity is lower as compared to UV light. Furthermore, regular BLUE LED technology is working well with green dyes but couldn’t be recommended with red dyes like Ethidium Bromide, because the longer wavelength is favourable for green dyes but not for red components.
A FLOQSwab® is a flocked swab that consists of a moulded plastic applicator stick with a variable size and shape tip. The tip of the applicator is coated with short Nylon® fibres that are arranged in a perpendicular fashion. FLOQSwabs® have no internal core to trap the specimen.
The flocked swab tip is coated perpendicularly and sprayed on Nylon® fibres. This coating creates a thin absorbent layer that allows for quick sample uptake and elution of more than 90% of the sample. Compare this elution to traditional spun swabs that trap the majority of the specimen in the 'mattress' structure, making it unavailable for testing, and it's easy to see why FLOQSwabs® are used by more and more laboratories and medical institutions around the world.
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