You are here: Home :: Area NEM :: Life sciences :: Biochemistry

Linda Vigilant

An Evaluation of Techniques for the Extraction and Amplification of DNA from Naturally Shed Hairs

Hair can be a valuable source of DNA for the noninvasive study of human and nonhuman populations. However, hairs contain extremely small quantities of DNA, making the method used to extract the DNA of paramount importance. This study compares the effectiveness of 4 different methods of DNA extraction from shed chimpanzee hair, as measured by the ability to amplify mtDNA targets using PCR. The most successful method is also the simplest, requiring only digestion of the root end in a buffer compatible with subsequent PCR without a prior purification or extraction step. Strategies to non-specifically preamplify the template are not successful with DNA from stored shed hairs.

Biological Chemistry, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 1431-6730
Volume: 380, 11/1999
Pages: 1329 - 1331

Show full article (external site)

Show all available items of this journal

 

Area NEM