Challenging question for RNA people - (May/27/2009 )

Hello

I have to extract RNA from chicken white blood cells. There are 2 limited points.
First, the blood will be collected from a farm 3 hr far from my lab.
Second, the chicken Rbc has nucleus

If anyone could suggest me the good way to preserve and extract RNA for this work.
(not sure if Rbc must be removed before RNA extraction)

I will appreciate it very much if someone could help.
Thanks

Rnasefree

I guess you do not isolate the mRNA at the farm? mRNA should be fairly stable inside the cell, as long as you keep them sterile and on ice, 3hrs should not make a big difference. Otherwise, if you want to extract and store mRNA, you can use RNAlater.
I would remove red blood cells before mRNA extraction, but I'm not a blood specialist... PharmLyse works fast, at least for mouse blood. Afterwards you can use some RNA extraction kit, like RNeasy columns.
Just my 2 cents...

Cheers,
Minna