isoamyl alcohol

[Martin D. Leach]

In article <3hol30$gla at news.ycc.yale.edu>, burbly at minerva.cis.yale.edu
(Marc A. Borbely) wrote:

> i have looked everywhere but can't find an answer:
> why in the world is isoamyl alcohol used together with phenol and 
> chloroform for extraction of nucleic acids?
> I've asked this on sci.bio and the only response i've gotten so far was 
> that it keeps down foaming. Other people have suggested that it serves to 
> "catch"  proteins that are too hydrophilic for the organic compounds and 
> too hydrophobic for the aqueous layer.

hmmm I remember reading about foaming elsewhere also..sorry no refs.

Martin

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