Plant & Animal Genomes XIV Conference Plant & Animal Genomes XIV ConferenceJanuary 14-18, 2006
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA
Olaf Stelling , Dustin Giberson , Kimberly Sparks , Lakeisha Tillery , Martina Werner , Erik Gustafson , Kelly Marshall , Laura Pajak
Isolation and purification of nucleic acids is a crucial step in basic research, molecular diagnostics and pharmacogenomics applications. Whole blood is commonly used for the extraction of genomic DNA in clinical research settings, but presents many challenges in sample preparation. Blood is rich in proteins, lipids and other cellular materials that need to be effectively removed to isolate high quality genomic DNA. Traditional methods have relied on separation of white blood cells via density gradient centrifugation and extraction with harsh organic chemicals. Column purification techniques exist, but are not easily automated. We present a scalable, 96-well, automatable method for effectively isolating large quantities of genomic DNA from fresh or frozen whole blood using the magnetic-bead based, Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI®) technology in the Genfind DNA Isolation Kit. Furthermore, sufficient genomic DNA can be isolated from serum samples for amplification-based analyses. This SPRI-based process is easily automated to produce high yield, high quality genomic DNA from whole blood. We present automation methods that can process up to 200 µL of whole blood or serum per well when introduced onto the system in a 96-well format. An entire plate of samples can be processed using a multi-channel Biomek FX Laboratory Automation Workstation or 1 to 96 samples in sets of 8 (per column) using a Span-8 Biomek NX Laboratory Automation Workstation.