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Southern Blotting as a Diagnostic Method

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Medical Biomethods Handbook

Part of the book series: Springer Protocols Handbooks ((SPH))

Abstract

Nucleic acid hybridization is a process in which complementary single strands of nucleic acids combine to achieve a stable double-stranded nucleic acid molecule. This action has been utilized to establish a molecular or genetic relatedness between organisms and to characterize their genomes. Furthermore, this technique is one of several diagnostic tools useful for detecting a wide variety of conditions. Since the determination of the basic principles of duplex formation and stability in the 1950s, many variations of the hybridization techniques have been developed. Southern first transferred DNA fragments from agarose, after electrophoretic separation, onto nitrocellulose (1). The technique is known as Southern blotting. Alwine et al. (2) described shortly afterward a similar Northern blotting technique in which separated RNA strands are transferred from an agarose gel to a suitable solid support. A logical extension of these blotting techniques has been the dot or slot blot in which the sample is applied directly to the solid support without prior size separation (3). Over the years, these techniques have been further developed and modified extensively by many researchers across the world. The application of these methods is as varied as the procedures used (e.g., to determine the changes in the nutritional state of an environment, to establish taxa genetically, to distinguish pathogenic from nonpathogenic viruses, to analyze gene structure).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Amersham, UK

    Bronwen Harvey & Pirkko Soundy

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  1. Bronwen Harvey
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  2. Pirkko Soundy
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

    John M. Walker  & Ralph Rapley  & 

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© 2005 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Harvey, B., Soundy, P. (2005). Southern Blotting as a Diagnostic Method. In: Walker, J.M., Rapley, R. (eds) Medical Biomethods Handbook. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-870-6:035

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-870-6:035

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-288-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-870-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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