Infectious Disease Research

Over the last 20 years, numerous outbreaks of infectious agents such as Ebola, influenza, Zika, and novel coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, COVID-19) have caused global economic disruption and strained public health resources.

Understanding the host cell response to a pathogen can include large-scale -omics and discovery approaches, targeted identification of important cells and proteins involved in the immune response—all beginning with optimized preparation of your starting sample.

Starting with sample preparation

Analysis of viruses in biological and environmental samples requires efficient methods for viral nucleic acids that are amenable to a variety of sample types. Viral nucleic acids may need to be isolated from saliva, blood, tissue, and even wastewater or stool samples. Each sample type has unique requirements for optimal nucleic acid extraction and isolation.

The two most common viral nucleic acid isolation technologies are magnetic beads and silica (glass) fiber filters. Both work by taking advantage of their different affinity for nucleic acids based on the concentration of chaotropic salts in the buffer, binding in high-salt buffers and eluting in low-salt buffers.

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers comprehensive sample preparation solutions for various applications from epidemiological surveillance to pathogen detection and analysis solutions. Easily extract DNA or RNA from your viral/pathogen sample, tailored to your sample type and throughput needs.

Protocols for immunology

Apply the background information provided throughout this resource center with practical and relevant application protocols. Browse by application or technique:

Cell preparation and immune cell stimulation

Find detailed protocols on the isolation of the different immune cells starting from whole blood or lymphoid tissue and various methods to stimulate them.

Sample preparation

Protocols covering isolation of RNA from immune cells to sample preparation for immunoassays.

Flow cytometry

Detailed protocols on staining, compensation, and validated antibody panels.

Immunoassays

Find general protocols for ELISA, western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry.

Selection guide: Viral DNA/RNA extraction

Viral nucleic extraction kits from Thermo Fisher Scientific are optimized to provide maximum viral DNA/RNA yield, purity, and integrity from a broad range of sample types. Choose the kit that best suits your research needs:

Best for	Recovery of low abundance viral DNA/RNA	High quality DNA/RNA from liquid samples	Automated extraction of viral DNA/RNA from liquid samples	Automated extraction of DNA/RNA from range of biological sample types	DNA/RNA extraction from difficult to lyse samples
Product	PureLink Viral RNA/DNA Mini Kit	GeneJet Viral DNA/RNA Purification Kit	PureLink Pro 96 Viral RNA/DNA Purification Kit	MagMAX Prime Viral/ Pathogen NA Isolation Kit	MagMAX Microbiome Ultra Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit
Cat. No.	12280050	K0821	12280096A	A58145	A42357
Starting volume	500 µL	200–400 µL	200 µL	200–400 µL	200–500 µL or 100–250 mg
Sample types	Cell-free plasma, serum, cerebrospinal fluid	Plasma, serum, nasal swab, buccal swab, saliva, urine	Cell-free plasma, serum, cerebrospinal fluid	Swabs in transport media (respiratory, genital and lesion swabs), saliva, stool, urine, plasma and serum	Stool, swabs, transport media, culture media, urine, wastewater, soil
Isolation technology & format	Silica spin column	Silica spin column	Silica membrane 96-well microplate	Magnetic beads/deep-well plate	Magnetic beads/multiwell plate
Protocol time	45 mins	30–60 mins	30 mins	30–60 mins (automated)	~60 mins
Sample elution volume	10–50 µL	50 µL	50–150 µL	60 µL	50–200 μL
Automation compatible	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Number of preps	50	50	384	600	100
Downstream applications	(RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting	(RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting	(RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting	(RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, NGS	(RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, NGS
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Brand offerings:

Helpful tip

If you are not ready to process your RNA sample, simply store it in Invitrogen RNAlater Stabilization Solution for use at a later time. Visit thermofisher.com/stabilizerna

Capabilities	Process a large amount of tissue	Fast isolation of RNA from a variety of samples	High-throughput purification of RNA and DNA	Process cells for gene expression
Kits	TRIzol reagents	PureLink kits	MagMAX kits	Cells-to-C_Tkits
Prep time	30–60 mins	<20 mins	45 mins	≤10 mins
Sample types	Most samples, particularly those more difficult to lyse	Bacteria, liquid, blood, cells, yeast, plants, tissue	Blood, plants, saliva, urine, stool, soil, plasma, serum	Cultured cells
Starting material	100 mg of tissue or 10⁷cells	10⁸cells, 200 mg of tissue, 250 mg of plant tissue, 0.2 mL of blood, 5 x 10⁸yeast, 10⁹bacteria	Variable depending on sample	1–100,000 cells
Yield	10⁶epithelial cells: 8–15 μg 100 mg tobacco leaf: 73 μg (Variable depending on sample)	Up to 350 µg	Variable depending on sample	N/A
High-throughput compatible	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Technology	Organic extraction	Silica membrane spin column/filter plate	Magnetic beads	Crude lysate
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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

Viral RNA and DNA extraction and analysis

Starting with sample preparation

Protocols for immunology

Selection guide: Viral DNA/RNA extraction

Brand offerings:

Helpful tip