Articles by Debra Swanson

Performing phenol extraction of nucleic acid samples is rarely the high point in a molecular biologist's day. This technique for removing contaminating proteins from a sample has endured despite the challenge of avoiding the goopy interface during transfer of the desired, upper aqueous phase. Who hasn't gone for that last little bit of nucleic acid sample and accidentally sucked up some of the interface? To ensure purity, many researchers keep a safe distance from the interface and settle for r

Four different archaeal genes expressed in (1) BL21-Gold (DE3) or (2) BL21-CodonPlus (DE3)-RIL Cells To clone or not to clone is seldom the question in today's fast-paced genetics research laboratory--cloning inevitably wins out. Past obstacles faced by the early recombinant DNA research community, such as finding acceptable hosts and vectors and isolating the desired genetic material, have since been worked out and replaced with the struggle to get optimal expression of those clones. Escheric

HPLC Products Characteristics of commonly used columns for biomolecules Rheodyne's automated HPLC column selector Simplification might be the single common goal of most scientific disciplines. Whether the entity of interest is an equation, a reaction, or an organism, the details need to be defined if the complexity of the whole picture is to be understood. In the research laboratory, many techniques exist for separating complex biological mixtures to attain the simple facts. Some of these meth

Nonisotopic methods for protein and nucleic acid detection provide a multitude of conveniences for researchers beyond the obvious freedom from bodily bombardment with radioactivity. Short film exposure times and long reagent shelf life make the list of additional perks. But keeping all of the necessary enzymes, substrates, and conjugates straight can be a chore for even the most seasoned blotting professional. Traditionally, substrate selection has been rigidly dependent on and specific fo

MultiMark Multi-Colored Protein Standard Remember those old horror movies starring the evil, mad scientist, the obedient assistant, and the latest menacing, yet somehow misunderstood, laboratory creation? All that boiling and bubbling and zapping, experienced only in black and white. Much to our enjoyment, in recent years scientific laboratories have experienced an explosion of color. The necessary consumables--tubes, racks, pipette tips, and lab coats--are available in rainbow-colored assortmen

State of the Art Nucleic Acid Sequencing Systems Imagine, if you will, an artist's satisfaction upon completing a potential masterpiece--the colorful presentation of a life experience. For those fortunate few in molecular biology who encounter the "artistry" of nucleic acid sequencing provided by the chromatogram of a successful run, the feelings can be quite similar. Oh, those wonderful colors! But life in the molecular fast lane was not always so aesthetically pleasing. To the pioneers of nucl

CLONTECH's SMART RACE cDNA amplification process diagram On your mark, get set, go! And the RACE is on to obtain that potentially elusive full-length cDNA for characterizing the best gene ever. In the molecular biology arena, RACE refers to rapid amplification of cDNA ends, a PCR-based cloning strategy used to obtain clones representing transcripts of the int-2 gene, expressed at low abundance in the early mouse embryo.1 Traditional methods of cDNA production, such as constructing and screenin

Date: March 15, 1999 Phage Display Systems and Vectors Structure of the T7 phage particle. The negative-stained pattern from polyheads showing capsid hexamer and pentamer units has been fitted onto the surface of the icosahedral particle. A single monomer of the capsid protein is shaded in red. Figure provided by Novagen. Back in the early '50s, at a time when Elvis Presley was beginning his undisputed reign as the king of rock 'n' roll, bacteriophage were rearing their ugly heads (so to spe

Date: February 15, 1999Enhanced PCR Kits and Reagents Sigma's RedTaq DNA Polymerase facilitates gel loading. During the past decade, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become one of the most versatile tools used in the molecular biology laboratory. Applications range from the analysis of genomic DNA samples and the production of DNA fragments for cloning systems to direct DNA sequencing. The reaction requires a minimum of reagents and equipment compared to many lab protocols and can be se