RNA Extraction Kits and RNA Isolation Reagents | Thermo Fisher Scientific

RNA extraction kits and reagents support a crucial step in the journey to discovery. For over two decades, our scientists have developed innovative and robust RNA extraction technologies to make those steps faster and more reliable.

DNA Learning Center

What is RNA extraction?

RNA extraction is a fundamental laboratory technique used to isolate RNA molecules from biological samples. The process often involves cell lysis, separating the RNA from other cellular components, and purifying it for downstream analysis.

Basics of RNA extraction

What is the purpose of RNA extraction?

The purpose of RNA extraction is to obtain high-quality purified RNA from biological samples for transcriptomic analysis for applications such as sequencing, transcriptome analysis, and infectious pathogen testing.

Obtaining high-quality RNA is the first, and often the most critical, step in performing many RNA-based molecular techniques, such as RT- and qRT-PCR, digital PCR (dPCR), RNA sequencing, array analysis, northern analysis, and cDNA library construction.

There are several common methods for RNA extraction available as kits. The choice of RNA extraction kit or RNA isolation kit may depend on your sample type, throughput required, downstream assay, and what equipment is available in the lab.

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RNA extraction methods comparison table

	Organic extraction	Crude lysate	Silica spin column	Magnetic beads
Description	Monophasic solution of phenol and guanidine isothiocyanate	Lysis buffer containing enzymes and detergent	Spin column and reagents for RNA isolation via selective silica binding	Magnetic beads and reagents for RNA isolation via selective bead binding
Sample type(s)	Bacteria, blood, cells, plant samples, tissue, viral samples, yeast	Cells in culture	Bacteria, blood, cells, plant and animal tissue, serum, yeast	Flexible for many sample types
Procedure	RNA isolation achieved through organic extraction and RNA precipitation	Incubation in lysis buffer followed by addition of stop solution; no isolation is performed	Homogenized samples loaded onto column; RNA is washed and eluted off column using benchtop centrifuge or vacuum manifold	Homogenized samples mixed with magnetic beads; beads are washed with wash buffers, and RNA is then eluted off the beads
Purity	Medium	Not applicable	High	Highest
Throughput	Low	Medium to high	Medium to high	Medium to high
Advantages	Efficient lysis and isolation Scalable format Great for high-fat and cartilaginous samples	Very fast process Addition-only workflow Process 10–100,000 cells with single protocol Highest reproducibility and sensitivity Compatible with reverse transcriptase and qPCR master mix reactions	Easy to use Processing of many sample types and volumes Specialized equipment not required High yield and purity Isolates true total RNA, including miRNA	Higher efficiency washes from bead movement No column means no risk of clogging Fully scalable to process low and high sample inputs High yield and efficiency Easily automated for high throughput