Contamination woes...HELP!

[Chris Boyd]

Robert DeLisio (QuintMark at earthlink.net) wrote:
: Decomtamination of pipets with UV is not effective.

: The UV light source must be perpendicular to the surface to be
: decomtaminated in order to inactivate amplifiable DNA. Pipets are 3-D and
: have rounded surfaces that are not exposed to sufficient UV to completely
: decontaminate. I've found that wiping down pipets ( or any other surface )
: with 10% bleach is the most effective way to get rid of contaminating DNA.

: Bleach should be used with caution, however. Should ANY bleach get into your
: reaction mixture it will kill it completely.

Another recently reported problem with UV decontamination for PCR is
in:

    Linquist, V., Stoddart, C. A. and McCune, J. M. (1998) `UV irradiation
   of polystyrene pipets releases PCR inhibitors.' BioTechniques, 24, 50.

(The lack of any bad effects on polypropylene seems to be implied by
omission.)

Best wishes,
--
Chris Boyd                      | from, but not \ MRC Human Genetics Unit,
Christopher.Boyd at hgu.mrc.ac.uk  | on behalf of  /  Western General Hospital,
http://www.hgu.mrc.ac.uk/Users/Christopher.Boyd \   Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, SCOTLAND