Staining and destaining PAGE gels - Alternative method for stain and destain (Jul/08/2002 )

Hi! i am running PAGE gels  almost everyday. I am using standard staining method which contains methanol, As methanol is very toxic i am looking for any other alternative method which does not involves methanol. Any suggestions.

You can use ethanol instead of methanol, but they take an age to  stain and destain - not recommended unless youve got plenty of time of your hands. You can buy premade methanol free satin from invitrogen and biorad but it ain't cheap.  I would just stick with the methanol and  make an effort to be carefull.

Hi kadamb :-)
in our lab we are using the "Gel Code Blue Stain Reagent" from Pierce. It is easy to use and less toxic, the destaining is done with water.
for more info:
http://www.piercenet.com/Products/ViewFam....am=02051015

I hope that helps you,
greetz
Megan

How dangerous is methanol anyway? Will I die if I drank a drop of it?

Methanol has an LDLo human of 143 mg/kg.

LDLo is an abbreviation for Lethal Dose Low, the minimum amount of a chemical which tests have shown will be lethal to a specified type of animal. This is normally quoted in mg kg-1 body weight.

For comparison, KCN has a LDLo human of 2,86 mg/kg.

We use Ethanol instead of Methanol in all (Coomassie-) solutions and we put the gel in the staining solution, boil it twice for 20'' in the microwave for staining. For destaining, we let it cool down a bit in destaining solution (about 5') then cange the solution, and boil it twice for 20'' again, then change buffer again and destain at RT for about 1h.

Mike

Never give up, never surrender!