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.
Phosphate-buffered saline or PBS buffer is a water-based salt solution widely used in cell culture applications, e.g. for maintenance of pH, dilution of substances, or rinsing of cell containers.
Also known as Dulbecco's Phosphate-Buffered Saline (DPBS), PBS is non-toxic and provides cells with water and inorganic ions, which are necessary for cell metabolism. The osmolarity and ion concentrations of PBS solutions are meant to mimic the isotonic milieu of the human body.
This formulation of PBS comes without Ca & Mg and without Phenol Red. The concentration of the solution is 10X.
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