Technical report. Video imaging of ethidium bromide-stained DNA gels with surface UV illumination

We describe here the use of surface UV illumination to record ethidium bromide-stained DNA gels with a video camera. This mode of illumination allows the use of a standard video camera equipped with a red filter and results in a high signal strength. The assembly of a low-cost video system on this basis is described. It uses the public domain software called Image on a Macintosh computer and PostScript laser printer or a thermal printer to generate hard copies. The setup is sensitive enough to detect 500 pg of DNA on an ethidium bromide-stained DNA gel. The UV illumination method described here can also greatly improve the sensitivity of existing video recording equipment.