Snap freezing worm samples for RNA prep - is it essential? (Dec/29/2009 )

I want to extract RNA from C elegans worms. I grew up the worms and froze them down at -80 C, but failed to snap freeze them. Will the RNA quantity or quality be affected significantly?

lotus on Dec 29 2009, 05:15 PM said:

That depends on how long it took you to freeze the samples. The purpose of freezing is primarily to prevent RNases from degrading the RNA, so if the samples were warm enough for long enough, then the RNases may have retained their activity long enough to degrade the RNA. If they were warm enough for long enough, then yes, the RNA may be degraded.

Are you freezing to store for later use or as part of your extraction protocol?

Best,
-Carlton