Hi All,

I was just wondering whether anyone has used any alternatives to ethidium bromide for staining up DNA. Preferably something that you can actually add to the agarose prior to pouring... I'd like to use something less dangerous.

Thanks...

---

you can use SYBR green from invitrogen, it's certainly non-toxic and you would need to modify your transilluminator setup.

Nick

---

i wondered how toxic ethidium bromide is? it is kind of part of my routine work. i think i should know

---

Ethidium bromide is pretty toxic stuff. You should check out the MDS for it. It intercalates DNA and is thus a know carcinogen, teratogen and mutagen, so work with it carefully.

I always wash my hands after handling it. The gloves that we use are permeable, they don't protect fully but act as a temporary shield to many toxic chemicals. My friend who is a chemist laughs at me when I have gloves on when working with phenol!!! because phenol goes through nitrile gloves!

Nick

---

Don't quite understand. Your friend think you should or should not wear gloves while handling phenol?

---

[quote=pcrman,Apr 14 2005, 06:41 PM]
[quote] Your friend think you should or should not wear gloves while handling phenol?

[/quote]

MY friend laughs at me for being a sissy molecular biologist when it comes to handling phenol. Check what your gloves are resistant to......i found to my surprise that nitrile gloves are permeable to phenol!!!!

He doesn't wear gloves when it comes to working with solvents and corrosive chemicals.

Nick

---

thanks for the suggestion Nick.

i always double-glove when i use EtBr and then throw my gloves away as soon as i'm done. maybe i'm overy paranoid, but i'd rather be careful. i dont double glove for phenol, but i have seen what it did to my friend (also a chemist) when he spilt a drop on his leg. it pretty much left a burn mark as it dripped down his skin!

---

yes double gloves is the way to go when handling phenol. I have had phenol spill all over my lab coat, it didn't take too long before it soaked straight through and onto my trousers. So I quickly took them both off, much to the delight of my lab colleagues . Let's just say my pants didn't survive the onslaught.

---

hi every one

eithedium bromide is very dangerous ,thats quiet true , its carcinogenic

and mutagenic as well.. i always change my gloves t the minute i finish

workibn with it

there is also something important you should know ,,,if you are preparing

agarose gel an you add the eithiduim bromide to the hot gel before you

pore it , take care that the vapour is dabgerous too

---