Development of a novel method for operating magnetic particles, magtrationtechnology, and its use for automating nucleic acid purification

Magnetic particles are useful for simple and efficient nucleic acid extract ion. To achieve fully automated nucleic acid extraction and purification us ing magnetic particles, a new method for operating magnetic particles, Magt ration Technology, was developed. In this method, magnetic separation is pe rformed in a specially designed disposable tip. This enables high recovery of magnetic particles with high reproducibility. The features of this techn ology are (i) a simple mechanism for process control and (ii) flexible soft ware to enable adaptation to commercially available reagents. Automated ins truments based on Magtration Technology were developed and used for nucleic acid extraction. Total DNA, total RNA and plasmids were purified by Magtra tion Technology at an efficiency comparable to that of manual methods.