Uses of RNA in the life sciences lab
Purified RNA is used in many downstream applications including real-time RT-PCR, microarray analysis, next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), northern blotting, and cloning.
Depending on the application, you may need to extract RNA from cellular material or biofluids, remove genomic DNA, or enrich for certain types of RNA.
Extracted RNA is used in the following applications:
RNA for microarrays
Microarrays are important tools in molecular biology and genomics labs. Especially for transcriptomics (mRNA and microRNA), the microarray approach offers a streamlined method for analysis of thousands of transcripts in a single experiment.
Explore Applied Biosystems microarray solutions
Microarray Analysis Support Center
RNA for northern blotting
Northern blot analysis is a common use for RNA. Used to determine mRNA identity, size, and relative abundance, northern blotting allows measurement of gene expression levels and transcript size as well as detection of alternatively spliced transcripts.
Learn the basics of northern blotting
Explore mRNA isolation kits
Explore northern blotting products
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.