What are the classifications of nucleic acid extractors?

Nucleic acid extractor is an instrument that uses matching nucleic acid extraction reagents to automatically complete sample nucleic acid extraction. It is widely used in various fields such as the Center for Disease Control, clinical disease diagnosis, blood transfusion safety, forensic identification, environmental microbiological testing, food safety testing, animal husbandry and molecular biology research.

1. Divided according to the size of the instrument model

1) Automatic liquid workstation

The automatic liquid workstation is a very powerful device, which automatically completes liquid dispensing and aspiration, and can even realize full automation of specimen extraction, amplification, and detection by integrating functions such as amplification and detection. Nucleic acid extraction is only one application of its function, and it is not suitable for routine laboratory extraction of nucleic acid. It is generally applied to the experimental needs of a single type of specimen and a very large amount of specimens (at least 96, generally several hundred) at a time. The platform establishment and operation of automatic workstations require relatively large funds.

2) Small automatic nucleic acid extractor

The small-scale automated instrument achieves the purpose of automatically extracting nucleic acid through the particularity of the operating structure, and can be used in any laboratory.

2. Differ according to the extraction principle

1) Instruments using spin column method

The centrifugal column method nucleic acid extractor mainly uses a combination of a centrifuge and an automatic pipetting device. The throughput is generally 1-12 samples. The operation time is similar to that of manual extraction. It does not improve the actual work efficiency and is expensive. Different models The consumables of the instrument are not universal, and are only suitable for large-scale laboratories with sufficient funds.

2) Instruments using magnetic bead method

Using magnetic beads as a carrier, using the principle of magnetic beads adsorbing nucleic acids under high salt and low pH values, and separating them from nucleic acids under low salt and high pH values, the entire nucleic acid extraction and purification process is realized by moving the magnetic beads or transferring the liquid. Due to the uniqueness of its principle, it can be designed into a variety of fluxes, which can be extracted from a single tube or from 8-96 samples, and its operation is simple and fast. It only takes 30-45 minutes to extract 96 samples, which greatly improves The efficiency of the experiment and the low cost allow it to be used in different laboratories. It is currently the mainstream instrument on the market.