Isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with a high level of purity and quality is a prerequisite for further analyses, which are of great importance for diagnosing human diseases, predicting treatments, monitoring the impacts of treatments, and improving the quality of life of individuals. At the Clinical Institute of Medical Genetics, a department of the University Medical Centre, they work with molecular genetic tests for the management of genetic diseases and oncological disorders, and among other things, they research the relationship between the microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases. They have established the isolation of nucleic acid from various biological samples using commercially available reagent tests for several years. In recent years they have been endeavoring to increase the flow rate of the samples, broadening the specter of samples from which they can collect DNA and improve the quality of the isolated nucleic acids. Therefore, we decided that validation of the ChemagicTM360 instrument should be a part of my master's thesis. This instrument has an automated system for DNA purification from various samples of human tissue as well as bacterial DNA from oral cavity swabs. As part of the ongoing research, we wanted to verify that the automated method was equivalent to well-established laboratory methods for isolation of nucleic acid. By analysing the quantity, purity, and verifying the efficiency of nucleic acid isolation, we concluded that the validated method can be substituted for reference isolation methods and is suitable for use in routine diagnostics.
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