The very act of slicing and dicing a piece of DNA with a restriction enzyme was a noteworthy event at one time. Now, even high school students can do it, and much more besides. If you want to bring molecular biology prowess to your lab but don't know what you'll need, read on. Our primer breaks down the essential enzymatic ingredients for starting your own molecular biology laboratory.
The specific enzymes required for any project will depend on what you're doing, and companies such as Ambion, Amersham Biosciences, Fermentas, Invitrogen, New England Biolabs, Novagen, Promega, Qbiogene, Roche Applied Science, Sigma, Stratagene, and Takara offer a vast assortment of options. In many cases, companies bundle reagents necessary for common tasks into kits – a convenient, if somewhat expensive option.
But in any event, you might also consider investing in some lab manuals. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Press) ...
