Microwave techniques?

[Paul N Hengen]

Scott Boyer wrote:

> Does anyone have any information on molecular biology techniques which use 
> microwaves.  A colleque of mine had heard of techniques using microwave ovens 
> to do restriction digests, but we can't find the references.  Also, I seem to 
> remember something about using microwaves to lyse bacteria for doing minipreps 
> and also for doing colony blots?  I would appreciate any leads on these 
> techniques.

...and Eric C. Anderson wrote:

| while i have never used them, they seem to be mythical bionet creatures who
| surface occassionally and are seen by only a few people but heard of by
| many.  personally, i wouldn't put too much stock in them.  if they were for
| real and worked very well, they would be published by now, at least in
| biotechniques or something like that.

Here is the list of published articles on this subject which I send
to Scott directly after he posted his question:

@article{Jhingan1992,
author = "A. K. Jhingan",
title = "Microwave restriction enzyme digestion of {DNA}",
journal = "Methods in Molecular and Cellular Biology",
volume = "3",
pages = "270-274",
year = "1992"}

@article{Forster1990,
author = "A. Forster
     and L Buluwela
     and T. H. Rabbitts",
title = "Turbo screening of bacterial colonies using
microwave denaturation on paper filters",
journal = "Trends in Genetics",
volume = "6",
pages = "141",
year = "1990"}

@article{Hultner1994,
author = "M. L. Hultner
     and J. E. Cleaver",
title = "A bacterial plasmid {DNA} miniprep using microwave lysis",
journal = "BioTechniques",
volume = "16",
number = "6",
pages = "990-994",
year = "1994"}

@article{Buluwela1989,
author = "L. Buluwela
     and A. Forster
     and T. Boehm
     and T. H. Rabbitts",
title = "A rapid procedure for colony screening
using nylon membranes",
journal = "Nucleic Acids Res.",
volume = "17",
number = "1",
pages = "452",
comment = "colony hybridization using microwave",
year = "1989"}

@article{Stroop1989,
author = "W. G. Stroop
     and D. C. Schaefer",
title = "Comparative effect of microwaves and boiling
on the denaturation of {DNA}", 
journal = "Anal. Biochem.",  
volume = "182",  
pages = "222-225",
year = "1989"}   

@article{Sagripanti1987, 
author = "J.-L. Sagripanti
     and M. L. Swicord   
     and C. C. Davis",
title = "Microwave effects on plasmid {DNA}",
journal = "Radiation Research",
volume = "110",  
pages = "219-231",
year = "1987"}   

@article{Narasimhan1991, 
author = "V. Narasimhan 
     and W. K. Huh",  
title = "Altered restriction patterns of microwave
irradiated lambdaphage {DNA}", 
journal = "Biochemistry International",
volume = "25",
number = "2",
pages = "363-370",
year = "1991"}

@article{Gabriel1987,
author = "C. Gabriel
     and E. H. Grant
     and R. Tata
     and P. R. Brown
     and B. Gestblom
     and E. Noreland",
title = "Microwave absorption in aqueous solutions of {DNA}",
journal = "Nature",
volume = "328",
pages = "145-146",
year = "1987"}

@article{Hengen1994Dectibs,
author = "P. N. Hengen",
title = "Methods and reagents - Glowing blue gels and nuked nucleases",
journal = "Trends in Biochemical Sciences",
volume = "19",
number = "12",
pages = "556-557",
month = "dec",
year = "1994"}

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