Mouthwash vs. Whole Blood

In your article on DNA extraction from mouthwash,1 you stated that this is a new procedure and it can be used as an alternative for DNA extractions from whole blood. We have been using this procedure for a few years now, so it's not really that new. And it cannot be used as an alternative for DNA extractions from whole blood all the time; only in special cases. The quality and quantity of DNA extracted from a mouthwash sample is much smaller and less than that from whole blood. Sure, this is a good technique to use when a child doesn't want to get poked, or if an adult acting like a child gives you a hard time, or when you just have no other option, but the best DNA quality comes from whole blood--unless you transform cell lines first and then extract DNA from a concentrated amount of lymphocytes. ...