Release of intracellular material

Abstract

Intracellular material is released from bacterial, yeast, plant, animal, insect or human cells by the application of a low voltage such as 1 to 10 V to a suspension containing the cells. The conditions may be selected such that DNA released from the cells is electrochemically denatured so as to be available for use in an amplification procedure.

1 - 17  (cancelled)  
     
     
         18 . A process of amplifying a target sequence of nucleic acid comprising denaturation, hybridisation, and replication of nucleic acid wherein the nucleic acid is released from a cell by a method comprising applying a voltage of not more than 50 volts to a suspension containing said cell or cells, and said denaturation is conducted by subjecting a solution containing said nucleic acid to a voltage applied between electrodes for a period of up to 2 minutes under conditions such as to convert at least a portion of the nucleic acid to a wholly or partially single-stranded form in the solution.  
     
     
         19 . An amplification process as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the amplification procedure is PCR or LCR.  
     
     
         20 . A process for replicating a nucleic acid which comprises: releasing double stranded nucleic acid from cells by a method comprising applying a voltage of nor more than 50 volts to a suspension containing said cell or cells, separating the strands of a sample double-stranded nucleic acid in solution under the influence of an electrical voltage applied to the solution from an electrode; hybridising the separated strands of the nucleic acid with at least one oligonucleotide primer that hybridises with at least one of the strands of the denatured nucleic acid; synthesising an extension product of the or each primer which is sufficiently complementary to the respective strand of the nucleic acid to hybridise therewith; and separating the or each extension product from the nucleic acid strand with which it is hybridised to obtain the extension product.  
     
     
         21  (canceled)