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Since its inception in 1994, Zymo Research has been proudly serving the scientific community by providing innovative, reliable, and high quality research tools at affordable prices. Our vision..."The Beauty of Science is to Make Things Simple" is now truer than ever. Whether it's epigenetics, DNA, RNA, E. coli, or yeast based research, our philosophy remains the same: To provide the highest quality products in the industry while ensuring they are both simple to use and reliable in their performance.

Zymo Research is historically recognized for its innovation of high quality nucleic acid purification technologies. Under the branding DNA Purification Made Simple™ and RNA Purification Made Simple™, our technologies are pushing the limits of what is possible with nucleic acid isolation. As The Epigenetics Company™, Zymo Research has also received much attention for its rapidly expanding portfolio of epigenetics products and services. It is our objective to develop and provide the most comprehensive set of tools for DNA, RNA, and epigenetic research and analysis available today. Thousands of peer-reviewed scientific publications from researchers around the world feature our technologies. Through innovation, our scientists have made streamlined DNA methylation detection possible, pioneered the micro-elution column for DNA and RNA purification, developed the simplest and the most sophisticated methods for high-quality plasmid DNA purification, and patented the first RNA purification directly from Trizol® without phase separation among many other leading technologies in the industry.

Looking for high-quality DNA-free RNA? The solution is Quick-RNA™ from Zymo Research

Posted in: DNA / RNA Manipulation and Analysis

Content sponsored by Zymo Research

If you’re reading this article, you are probably already aware how challenging RNA extraction can be. From destructive RNases to contamination with genomic DNA, it seems like there’s no end to what can go wrong with your RNA extraction!

To put it mildly, extracting and isolating RNA is not the easiest procedure to get right in the lab, but it doesn’t have to be this way anymore. Scientists at Zymo Research  have perfected high-quality DNA-free RNA purification from virtually any sample with their Quick-RNA™ kits.

These innovative products are the means to easy, rapid and, above all, reliable RNA purification from a wide range of cells and tissue samples, been from a single cell. Using the same kit, you can even choose to isolate total RNA (>17 nucleotides), large RNA (>200 nucleotides) or small RNA (17-200 nucleotides), separately.

The trick is a combination of Quick-RNA’s unique RNA Lysis Buffer with Zymo’s unique Clean-Spin™column technology to yield high-quality RNA in only 10 minutes that is suitable for any downstream analysis.

Let’s have a look at how Quick-RNA can help you:

Avoid genomic DNA contamination with Quick-RNA

Spotting a high molecular weight band in a gel can mean only one thing: genomic DNA (gDNA) contamination in your precious RNA sample. The reality is that, with current methods, it is virtually impossible to remove all traces of DNA.

The gDNA removal filters included in the Quick-RNA kits in combination with the included DNase treatment can successfully remove all gDNA from your sample.  This allows you to continue with RNA analysis knowing you’re working with completely DNA-free samples.

Say bye-bye to RT-PCR inhibition!

A second type of contaminant includes salts and organic compounds carried over into your RNA sample. Their presence is typically evidenced by an abnormally low absorbance 260/230nm ratio (e.g., <1). While these salts may benefit extraction by inactivating RNases, if present in the final RNA sample, they will also inhibit reverse transcriptases and confound analysis.

The primary cause for this carry-over is that most columns retain 2-3 ?l after spinning, no matter how many extra spins you give it.  As a consequence, small volumes of buffers used in previous steps will end up in your eluted RNA.

To resolve this issue, those at Zymo designed zero-retention Clean-Spin columns. This means that, after the last wash, the column is completely free of any buffer, resulting in contaminant-free RNA, even in small elution volumes (in fact with the Quick-RNA MicroPrep kit you can elute in
just 6 ?l).

Say NO to smeared RNA bands!

If you have smeared RNA bands in your gel, the only thing you can be sure of is that RNA degradation may have occurred at some point during processing, most likely the work of ubiquitous RNases present in your sample.

Many downstream analyses (RT-PCR, hybridization, etc.) require high-quality, intact RNA: Don’t panic! Quick-RNAs specially designed RNA Lysis Buffer will ensure the integrity of RNA during the purification process by neutralizing RNases.

Where has all the RNA gone?

Problems with low yield RNA?… This is where Quick-RNA technology really shines.  The spin columns have been specifically designed for maximum RNA recovery… All you have to do is request a sample today and compare it to what you may already be using.

For more information on Quick-RNA kits click here.

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