Quantitative Analysis of DNA Samples

DNA is a major component in living organisms and contains the genetic information that encode synthesis for proteins. DNA extraction and quantitation analysis is a critical procedure that can be demonstrated in forensics to detect genome of interest and in medical applications such as polymerase chain reaction PCR, to detect certain pathogens such as COVID-19 or DNA sequencing that may aid in therapeutics for diseases. Quantification of DNA allows identification of its concentration and purity that enables future downstream processing and experiments. Contaminations in extracted DNA can lead to interference and pre-analytical errors that can be removed beforehand. UV spectrophotometer is used to detect pure DNA maximum absorbance at a wavelength of 260nm and half maximum absorbance at a wavelength of 280nm. Concentration is determined based on absorbance ratio of 260:280 respectively. The merit of this paper is to utilize UV spectrometer to 1) detect DNA presence and 2) test DNA concentration and purity. Further actual DNA samples were collected from buccal swabs, then properly extracted and isolated followed by quantification procedure.