Automated Nucleic Acid Extraction

Abstract

Robotic workstations for the extraction and purification of nucleic acids should fulfill a true walk-away automation. The technology should allow a high throughput of samples; the yield, purity, reproducibility, and scalability of the RNA and DNA as well as the speed, accuracy, and reliability of the assay should be maximal, whereas the risk of cross-contamination must be minimal. This chapter gives an overview of commercially available workstations for an automated extraction of nucleic acids. The BioRobot EZ1 workstation (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) purifies nucleic acids from many clinically relevant specimens; one to six samples can be processed within a time period of 15 min. The COBAS AmpliPrep robotic workstation (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) is a fully automated system that isolates DNA and RNA targets. The KingFisher technology (Thermo Electron, Waltham, USA) uses the shifting of magnetic particles through the different phases of the purification process.