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ethidium bromide - handling with ethidium bromide (Nov/04/2005 )

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hello there,
yet another thread on ethdium bromide, hope you don't mind. i was wondering what's the
best way to stain agarose gels... add ethidium bromide into the agarose before pooring the gel
or soak the gel afterwards in it... because I'm not to keen on touching the gel too long (use
vinyl gloves) since I'm a bit scared about the substance.
By the way, how should one transport the gel if not using your hands wink.gif ?
Thanks!

-speedy-

QUOTE (speedy @ Nov 4 2005, 11:21 AM)
hello there,
yet another thread on ethdium bromide, hope you don't mind. i was wondering what's the
best way to stain agarose gels... add ethidium bromide into the agarose before pooring the gel
or soak the gel afterwards in it... because I'm not to keen on touching the gel too long (use
vinyl gloves) since I'm a bit scared about the substance.
By the way, how should one transport the gel if not using your hands wink.gif ?
Thanks!


you shouldn't be too scared about ethbr - for sure not, if it's disolved down to a quite low concentration. for handling i'll recommend something like this :


btw ... does anyone know how that's called in english blink.gif works pretty fine, can be found in any store.

-Kersten-

Haha that looks like a good tool to use
Anyway I use the kitty scoop to take the gel, work the same way too hehe

--YS--

biggrin.gif alright, should re-introduce that thing...

-speedy-

QUOTE (speedy @ Nov 4 2005, 05:21 AM)
hello there,
yet another thread on ethdium bromide, hope you don't mind. i was wondering what's the
best way to stain agarose gels... add ethidium bromide into the agarose before pooring the gel
or soak the gel afterwards in it... because I'm not to keen on touching the gel too long (use
vinyl gloves) since I'm a bit scared about the substance.
By the way, how should one transport the gel if not using your hands wink.gif ?
Thanks!


Hi.

I usually soak the gel afterwards in an EtBr solution. I've made a little scoop-like tool by cutting away three sides of a pipette box lid, leaving the large area of the lid and one long side attached. I usually use it to scoop the gel out of the EtBr solution, drain it and place it on the UV box for visualization. This works well for the size gels I run and I usually don't have to touch the gel with my hands when I use this tool.

If you wanted to minimize contact with the EtBr, you could add a bit to each of the samples before loading them on the gel, rather than adding the EtBr to the agarose or soaking the gel afterward. I haven't tried this myself, and I understand it adds a bit more variablility to the gel results due to additional pipetting (so, not good for more quantitative work), but you could more safely handle the gel afterward.

Alicia

-Alicia.Oh-

spatulas are good

larger cell scrapers will work too unsure.gif

I think the best thing for transport (we take them down the hall to the imager) is to use a spatula or gloves to scoop them into a small flat tray with a lid (like your little tupperware for western membrane incubations, something like that)

it's good to have a lid if you're going very far. this prevents the tripping or bumping into something and dropping the gel...and we've all been there, haven't we? huh.gif

-aimikins-

Wow Kersten this is a nice tool to handle with EtBr Gel!

I normaly use gel tray (the one you use to make gel and run it) that is trasparent to UV light, and place it on a normal lid just tu transport it from my desk to Uv light. But I think you can use everything, just free your fantasy!
If I need to put gel directly on UV light I use an old film (a film I used to develop a WB) because is thin, flexible and works well, it is also usefull to cut gel!!!

I prefer to add EtBr to my gel before pouring it into gel tray... but be carefull this work only on DNA gel, if you need to make gel for RNA you must add EtBr to sample not directly in gel otherwise it will not work (but I still don't know why!!!)

Bye

-Dott. Berrino-

QUOTE (Dott. Berrino @ Nov 4 2005, 07:53 PM)
Wow Kersten this is a nice tool to handle with EtBr Gel!


thanks ... scanning my kitchen I also found a very good homogeniser ... a mixer wink.gif a kitchenstore seems a good place to get things to improve a biological lab biggrin.gif

-Kersten-

OH yeah, there are uses for forks, knives, and spoons, saran wrap, aluminum foil, tupperware, cups and glasses, empty jugs, mortar and pestle, blender, timer, all kinds of kitchen stuff

when I have to explain what I do to family and friends who don't know anything about science, I make lots of cooking analogies...there are all sorts of overlaps

-aimikins-

yeah ... cooking is kinda chemistry .. or vice versa. I think in britan they now have a chair for "molecular cooking" biggrin.gif

-Kersten-

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