Cartoon Scientist holding a test tube next to an oversized DNA molecule to represent plasmid vs genomic DNA extraction

Plasmid vs. Genomic DNA Extraction: The Difference

Most experiments start with a piece of DNA—either plasmid DNA or genomic DNA. And your downstream uses for it dictate how much you need, what contaminants you can tolerate, and your extraction and purification methods. In this article, we explain the key differences between plasmid and genomic DNA extraction methods.