defrosting........how do you do it? - (Aug/07/2007 )

Some guy in my lab used to warm the tubes for PCR in his hands without gloves and without wash them, then he took new groves as her instructor said to prepare the PCR reaction to avoid contamination.
Please, don’t do that!!

Most items we have frozen are in small volumes. I generally allow them to defrost at room temperature, unless there is a reason not to. I never bring anything up over 37C. Sometimes, I allow my PCR master mix to defrost in an ice bucket, but if I'm in a hurry, I will roll it between my gloved hands. I always allow my TRIzol-based solutions to come to room temperature as per most of the manufacturers' protocols. However, I have a co-worker who ignores this and defrosts in an ice bucket.

For large volumes, we either defrost in the fridge, at room temperature or on a 37C water bath, depending on how soon we need the liquid and what the temperature limits of the substance are.