How long it take for breaking cell by a water bath sonication - (Jul/29/2006 )

dear all,

i got no tip sonicator, so i try to use the water bath sonicator (for cleasing) to break the cell.
anyone of you have experience how long should i take to sonicate the 1ml probe.

thank a lot

huiling

It is a pretty weak sonicator and there are a lot of variables involved, which makes us difficult to say for sure. It is not really disgned for that purpose. The best would be for you to examine cells under a micorscope after treatment.

Why not use a 30G needle to shear the cell?

Can you freeze-thaw? Do you have access to liquid N2? Much faster and gentle, too.

Could you use glass-teflon homogenizer?