Decontaminating DNA - Effective Means? - (Aug/22/2014 )

Hello,

I've been performing endpoint (qualitative) PCR for quite some time for a project.  Initially contamination wasn't an issue; I prep'd and ran (agarose) PCR reactions on the same lab bench.  However, as this project comes together, there is a need to be more careful; homologous regions, library clones, etc, etc.  I have controls, and have yet to run into any contamination issues, but to keep things that way, have dedicated lab benches as "pre-PCR" and "post-PCR".

I've made a habit of decontaminating my pre-PCR bench after each reaction prep.  I'd been using DNA Away, which runs about $30 for 250mL.  I'm pretty sure the active ingredient is bleach.  Anyone know if a simple bleach solution will work just as well for removing DNA contamination?  10-30%?

Thanks!

Jake

I favour 1-3% hydrogen peroxide, particularly because it can leave no residue (it decomposes relatively quickly into water and carbon dioxide) but you should await the advice of those more experienced.

Both H2O2 and bleach work well for this.

I agree with the H2O2. But seanspotatobusiness will find it difficult to locate the carbon atoms in that molecule to make CO2.

phage434 on Sun Aug 24 23:51:19 2014 said:

I agree with the H2O2. But seanspotatobusiness will find it difficult to locate the carbon atoms in that molecule to make CO2.

Haha! I left them here somewhere, I'm sure...