Spin Column
Spin Column - Related Videos
02:59
Extraction of Viral RNA from Surface-Bound Virions Using a Silica Spin Column
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2026
Source: Klaus, J. P. et al. Highly Sensitive Assay for Measurement of Arenavirus-cell Attachment. J. Vis. Exp. (2016)This video demonstrates the extraction of viral RNA from surface-bound virions on epithelial cells using silica spin columns. The method includes chemical lysis, RNA stabilization, and membrane-based purification for downstream quantification of virus-cell attachment.
09:15
Column Chromatography - Student Protocol
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2020
Source: Lara Al Hariri and Ahmed Basabrain at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA Column Chromatography of Food DyeExpand In this experiment, you'll use column chromatography to separate green food coloring into its component blue and yellow dyes, called erioglaucine and tartrazine. First, you'll use 95% ethanol to elute the dye with a weaker affinity for silica gel. Then, you'll flush the second dye from the column with water. To recover the purified dyes, you will collect each...
09:23
Column Chromatography
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Dr. Jimmy Franco - Merrimack College Column chromatography is one of the most useful techniques for purifying compounds. This technique utilizes a stationary phase, which is packed in a column, and a mobile phase that passes through the column. This technique exploits the differences in polarity between compounds, allowing the molecules to be facilely separated.1 The two most common stationary phases for column chromatography are silica gel (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3), with...
03:07
Column Chromatography - Concepts
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2020
Column Chromatography Multiple techniques exist to purify and separate compounds in an organic chemistry laboratory. One of the most reliable separation techniques for microscale separations, where less than 10 grams of the compound is available for analysis, is column chromatography. This technique separates compounds in a mixture based on their physical properties, such as their solubility, polarity, hydrophobicity, size, and charge. Chromatography Basics The main components of any...
02:50
Column Chromatography - Instructor Prep
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2020
Source: Lara Al Hariri at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA Preparation of the Dye SolutionExpand Here, we show the laboratory preparation for 10 students working in pairs, with some excess. Please adjust quantities as needed. Before you get started, put on a lab coat, safety glasses, and nitrile gloves, and make sure that the lab has a labeled organic waste container. Prepare 5 mL of green food dye solution in ethanol. First, tare a clean empty 5-mL volumetric...
FAQs
Binding depends on the chemical environment: high-salt or chaotropic conditions promote association of nucleic acids with the column’s silica membrane. During centrifugation, the sample is driven through that membrane, while many unwanted components pass into the flow-through. This selective retention creates the basis for separating DNA or RNA from a complex biological sample before downstream analysis.
Each liquid-handling stage has a different purpose. After binding, washing removes residual proteins and salts that could remain with the retained nucleic acid. Elution then changes the conditions so the purified material leaves the membrane in an elution buffer. Separating these functions helps produce a cleaner preparation and supports reliable performance in later molecular biology assays.
Reproducibility comes from combining a defined membrane bed with a standardized sequence of binding, washing, and elution steps. Because the device is compact and works with a microcentrifuge, researchers can process samples using a simple, rapid workflow. This consistency is useful when comparable biological preparations are needed across molecular biology experiments.
A typical nucleic acid workflow starts by applying the prepared sample under high-salt or chaotropic conditions, followed by centrifugation to move liquid through the membrane. The retained material is washed, and a later elution step recovers it in buffer. The sequence separates binding, contaminant removal, and recovery into discrete operations that are easy to repeat.
Spin-column purification is suited to small-scale sample preparation because the column can be handled with a microcentrifuge. The key materials for nucleic acid work are the membrane, the sample, wash solution, and elution buffer. Centrifugation moves liquids through the membrane at each stage, allowing the workflow to remain compact while producing purified biological material.
Purified material from this workflow can serve as input for PCR, sequencing, cloning, genotyping, and gene expression studies. In biology, the value lies in removing proteins and salts that accompany complex samples, so downstream analyses begin with a cleaner nucleic acid preparation. The same general device is also used for purification of biological proteins, although the overview emphasizes nucleic acids.