A Study on the Isolation & Analysis of Nucleic Acids
Basis in Isolation, Ultraviolet Spectroscopy, Restriction Endonuclease Digestions, Ligations, Hyperchromic Effect, Florescence Spectroscopy, and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
Abstract
The quantitative analysis of nucleic acid samples can offer up insights into samples with unknown properties. In this brief study multiple techniques are utilized to isolate, quantify, and discern nucleic acid residues from Escherichia coli (E. coli) plasmids. Restriction digests and hyperchromic assays were also developed. Results for the restriction digest were not conclusive, but the hyperchromic effect was observed in both RNA and DNA as expected. The denaturant study with NaOH saw an interesting result, with RNA showing little change in spectroscopic absorbance, while DNA showed a drastic increase. Continue Reading