HELP HELP HELP needed with RNA extraction

[ritaud at rsvs.ulaval.ca]

On Wed, 05 Jun 1996 13:40:46 -0500, c670769 at showme.missouri.edu wrote:

>Someone mentioned xylem cells being mostly dead.  that certainly could 
>have a lot to do with your problems.  It seems that also HOW you 
>sterilize your equipment may also be important.  If you are merely 
>autoclaving your glassware, it will not kill off all the RNAses.  
>Baking of glassware is essential in most RNA preps.  Also in some 
>cases gloves won't do it either.  Some need lab coat, hair net, etc.
>
>Hope some of this helps
>


Killing off the RNases is a myth... I use autoclaved tips, clean
glassware and DEPC-treated water for all the RNA extractions I've done
so far and I haven't had any degraded RNA yet. I believe that being
careful not to introduce new RNAses into your preparation is much more
important than worrying about the ones that are already there.

Jean-Francois Larrivee
Ph.D. Student in Molecular Pharmacology
Centre de Recherche de l'Hotel-Dieu de Quebec
Universite Laval
e-mail : jfl at rsvs.ulaval.ca
            jfl at zone.ca