Cleaning metal forceps and spatulas of DNA???

[Chris Boyd]

Harry Witchel (Harry.Witchel at bristol.ac.uk) wrote:

: 	Can metal be decontaminated by boiling in water for 20 minutes?  I 
: have used a product called DNA Away, but it is very expensive.  What are the 
: other alternatives?

It is a common microbiological practice to sterilize the working
surfaces of small items of metalware such as scissors, forceps and
spatulas by dipping in 100% ethanol and flaming. Whether this would
reliably incinerate all PCRable traces of DNA I don't know, but it's
worth a try.  There's probably a Biotechniques or NAR paper in there
for anyone who'd like to prove this! (Cynical? moi?)

Alternatively, you could blast them with UV on a transilluminator,
though it would be hard to ensure complete exposure of working
surfaces.

Best wishes,
--
Chris Boyd          | from,  \MRC Human Genetics Unit / Western General Hospital
chrisb at hgu.mrc.ac.uk| not for \        Crewe Road / Edinburgh EH4 2XU / Scotland