SIMULTANEOUS ISOLATION AND QUANTITATION OF DNA

摘要

The present invention provides methods for isolating a defined quantity of D NA target material from other substances in a medium. The method may be carried out using a known quantity of a silica-containing solid support, such as silica magnetic particles, having a definable capacity for reversibly bindin g DNA target material, and DNA target material in excess of the binding capaci ty of the particles. The methods of the present invention involve forming a complex of the silica magnetic particles and the DNA target material in a mixture of the medium and particles, and separating the complex from the mixture using external magnetic force. The DNA target material may then be eluted from the complex. The quantity of DNA target material eluted may be determined based on a calibration model. The methods of the present inventio n permit isolation of DNA target material which is within a known quantity range. The methods of the invention eliminate the step of quantitating purified biological samples prior to further processing, such as amplification, Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis, and DNA sequencing. Sampl es of the DNA target materials may be obtained from liquid or solid media, such as liquid blood or paper.