Techniques for nucleic acid engineering: The foundation of gene manipulation

Abstract

The journey of nucleic acid isolation and characterization has been a long one starting in the late 1800s. DNA isolation has led the way due to its stable chemical characteristic. Since its initial implementation the demand of molecular studies has evolved rapidly into studying a wide range of nucleic acids, including all types of RNAs, mitochondrial DNA, and nucleic acid materials of other organisms. The scientific advancements and the "omics" era certainly brought new challenges, forcing the technology to go into an enormous advancement in a relatively short period. In the early 1900s the range of methods, the material, and the field of applications were limited. During, nearly, the last three decades the procedures became automated, standardized, economic, user-friendly, nonhazardous, and less time-consuming. The manual organic or inorganic procedures had left their place to more robust and reliable solid-phase extraction techniques. There are a wide range of samples in which high-quality and high-yield nucleic acid isolation is carried out. These samples vary from whole blood to different types of tissues, hair, bones, saliva, urine, and many more. We are going to explore the principles of nucleic acid isolation, the basics of chemistry behind the scenery, manual and advanced techniques of isolation and quality check, and the means of good laboratory practice. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.