sample collection

[Douglas Rhoads]

I would like to poll the this newsgroup as to what methods others 
might recommend for sample collection.  We need to collect microliter 
amounts of blood for PCR analysis.  Unfortunately, the samples should 
be most easily collected by untrained animal handlers.  We have 
looked into cap tubes and the micro-vacutainer type collection tubes 
but all of these require using a lancet and then collection from skin 
surfaces.  It would be really nice if there was a vacutainer/needle 
system that collects only 10-100 microliters but those systems start 
at around 2 ml.  Since we are using PCR we are very concerned that 
with surface collection there can be cross-contamination from 
handlers hands and from dander on the skin surface.  We also don't 
want to have to design something.

Does anyone have any suggestions where we might look??

//========================================================\\
||Doug Rhoads              || Dept. of Biological Sciences||
||drhoads at mercury.uark.edu || 601 Science Engineering     ||
||drhoads at uafsysb.uark.edu || University of Arkansas      ||
||501-575-3251             || Fayetteville, AR 72701      ||
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||     My Dogma Just Got Run Over by Someone's Karma      ||
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