Brilliant Cresyl Blue for staining agarose gels

[Daniel Kim]

Hello:

I read in Trends in Genetics that brilliant cresyl blue stain can be used 
to stain DNA in agarose gels.  They say that the sensitivity compares 
favorably with ethidium bromide (25 ng/band visible) and it does not 
require UV for visualization.

The figures showed very nice bands . . . has anyone used this method?

Is DNA stained in this manner still intact and suitable for purification 
and manipulation?  That is, could I excise a stained band and extract the 
DNA for further digestion, ligation, PCR, labeling, etc?

I'd appreciate any comments by experienced users.  If there is no reply, 
then I may just go ahead and try it out myself and report back in a month 
or so.

Daniel Kim