3 ms·
I don't believe that is entirely accurate. Positive pressure systems are designed to blow 99.999% sterile air over the work area to prevent contamination. Comme
by joshuamcginnis 6y ago
I don't believe that is entirely accurate. Positive pressure systems are designed to blow 99.999% sterile air over the work area to prevent contamination. Commercial PCR workstations will typically take dirty outside air, run it through a prefilter, through a HEPA and then over the workstation either horizontally or vertically - blowing away any contamination that might be brought towards the sample. I'm not sure I've run into anyone who do this kind of sterile work who has necessitated the need for the kind of negative pressure system you're suggesting.
Also, I'm learning how to do DNA barcoding and typically, the PCR product isn't opened but rather sent off for sequencing or analysis. Anyway, thank you! Maybe I'm wrong so I'm happy to hear your thoughts. And thanks for the support.
- icegreentea2 6y agoAh, I can see how what I wrote could be confusing. For the workspace where you're prepping your reactions, yes the work bench you described is what you'd want. I was referring to a workspace for working with post PCR product (which is what you'd need to do to run a gel), for which you'd want the opposite - since effectively what you're doing is handling a super dirty sample, and you want to contain that as much as possible. Even if you're pretty confident of your PCR workspace, dealing with random PCR amplicon contamination in your overall lab space can just lead to random frustrations. It's not like it'll for sure ruin everything forever, but it can also just... be very annoying at exactly the most inopportune times. But right, if all of your stuff is going to be sent off for sequencing or analysis, then my warnings is totally moot - just be care to not accidentally open your post run tubes =P. I just got hooked by you asking about gels.