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Dr. Karl-Heinz Esser, multiBIND biotec GmbH,
Dr. Wolfram H. Marx, AppliChem GmbH and
Prof. Dr. Thomas Lisowsky, multiBIND biotec GmbH
Advanced experiments in gene technology demonstrate
that even small amounts of free DNA molecules
are sufficient to cause infections, recombinations or
biological transformations [1,2]. Additionally, the
complete decontamination of equipment and surfaces
from any DNA molecules is important for biological
containment, safety and prevention of artifacts in
PCR amplification experiments. Using new methods
available to detect extremely low levels of DNA
molecules,
we investigated the molecular mechanism
of action of various commercially available DNA
decontamination reagents. When tests were performed
under extreme conditions, i.e. high concentrations
of DNA and short incubations times, two major
problems were apparent: First, none of the conventional
reagents destroyed DNA molecules efficiently
and second, all reagents contained components
with corrosive or even toxic properties. Consequently,
we saw the need to develop new solutions for
effective DNA decontamination. Now, we present
the latest developments and assays comparing
the new AppliChem DNA decontamination reagent,
DNA-ExitusPlus, with other conventional products.
DNA-ExitusPlus guarantees fast and efficient destruction
of nucleic acids without corrosive or toxic
properties.
DNA decontamination reagents use three different molecular
principles for destruction or inactivation of genetic material:
modification,
denaturation and degradation. Depending on the
composition of the reagents, the different mechanisms may be combined.
Safe DNA decontamination depends on the degradation of
DNA into very small fragments. We developed a DNA degradation test
to compare conventional deconta
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