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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Extraction of High Molecular Weight Genomic DNA from Soils and Sediments
Published on: November 10, 2009
Extraction of DNA from soil using nanoparticles by magnetic bioseparation
A Sebastianelli1, T Sen, I J Bruce
1Nanobiotechnology Research Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Aims:
To develop a simple, rapid and inexpensive soil DNA extraction protocol.
Methods And Results:
The protocol relies on the use of superparamagnetic silica-magnetite nanoparticles for the isolation and purification of DNA from soil samples. DNA suitable for use in molecular biology applications was obtained from a number of soil samples.
Conclusions:
The DNA extracted using the tested method successfully permitted the PCR amplification of a fragment of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene. The extracted DNA could also be restriction endonuclease digested.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
The protocol reported here is simple and permits rapid isolation of PCR-ready soil DNA. The method requires only small quantities of soil sample, is scalable and suitable for automation.
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