UV Transilluminator Manual

Open source DIY kit

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Open source DIY kit

UV-transilluminators are used in molecular biology labs to view DNA (or RNA) that has been separated by electrophoresis through an agarose gel. During or immediately after electrophoresis, the agarose gel is stained with a fluorescent dye which binds to nucleic acid. Exposing the stained gel to a UVB light source causes the DNA/dye to fluoresce and become visible. This technique is used wherever the researcher needs to be able to view their sample, for example sizing a PCR product, purifying DNA segment after a restriction enzyme digest, quantifying DNA or verifying RNA integrity after extraction.

The open source UV Transilluminator kit can be used to make your own narrowband UV-B transilluminator with a 7.5 x 7.5 cm viewing window suitable for imaging DNA mini-gels. The kit contains all of the materials for making the transilluminator. Assembly time is approx. 30-60 mins. No additional tools are required.

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Indices and tables

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