re: silver staining of DNA I've used the Promega Silver Sequence Kit, based on a method by Brant Bassam and Gustavo Caetano-Annoles. This is a nice and fast method that uses only three or four reagents. I've found that the method works just as well if I buy my own stuff instead of the kit, but you may want to try th ekit at first to get a feel for it. Daniel Kim