For further information and operational details, please contact: Beth Whalen
The NanoDrop can be used to measure nucleic acid and protein concentration of samples as small as 1 µL. Up to 8 samples at one time can be analyzed providing full spectral data for each sample.
Sample purity ratios are available in the NanoDrop 8000 software. RNA, ssDNA & dsDNA all absorb UV light at 260nm while proteins absorb at 280nm. The 260/280 ratio is used to determine the amount of protein contamination in your sample. Acceptable ratios are usually ~2.1 for RNA and ~1.8 for DNA. Lower ratios indicate significant protein contamination. The 260/230 ratio is used to determine contamination by organic salts such as phenol, TRIzol etc. Ratios below ~1.8 are considered to have significant organic contamination.