DNA contamination in PCrRs

[metzler at sara.cc.utu.fi]

I don't do PCR, but I read an letter to the editor once in Nature
where a lab found certain technicians always got contaminants, i.e.
their negative (no DNA) samples always gave bands. Other technicians
did not have this problem. It turned out that there was a direct
correlation between the amount of hair on the head of the technician
and whether they got bands in their negative controls. In other words,
people with lots of hair shed, and that stuff (dead skin or dandruff
or whatever it is) gives bands if the primer is right. They put
shower caps on these technicians and the problems went away.
It's something to think about. And may apply also to fluffy sweaters
and other kinds of clothes.
-- 
Mary C. Metzler,                       |  Internet:  Metzler at Sara.CC.Utu.Fi  
Department of Botany,                  |  
University of Turku,                   |  This space to be witty until I think
Turku, SF-20500                        |  of something filled... oh yes.
Finland.                               |  a jelly donut.