From owner-diagnostics@net.bio.net Mon Mar 20 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!CORNELL.EDU!gsr1 From: gsr1@CORNELL.EDU (Geoffrey Rule) Newsgroups: bionet.diagnostics Subject: Re: low boiling point Date: 21 Mar 1995 07:38:53 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 32 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net At 8:57 AM 3/13/95, forbes@cip.org.ec wrote: >We would like to initiate some PCR based methods near Quito, >Ecuador at an altitude of 3050 m above sea level. Water boils >here at 89 C which will not allow us to bring the vials up above >this temperature. Our PCR machine has not yet arrived but we >would like to have some ideas on how this problem might be solved >before it does. >Many thanks >Greg Forbes > Hi Greg, I haven't seen any replies to your message. Have you received any? Your question is somewhat intruiging. I wonder, first of all, would DNA and the enzymes behave as you would like, at the lower temperature, since they are at lower pressure at the same time? Another thought; if the tubes are tightly capped the reactions may not bump, or boil, so long as the pressure within each tube is contained. Essentially, the pressure within each tube will actually be mucher higher than your ambientt air pressure anyway and so you will not have a problem. Failing that, I can only imagine that you might build some sort of pressure controlled box to contain the thermal cycler while performing PCR. Please let me know what you come up with, and best of luck! Geoff Rule Geoffrey S. Rule Analytical Chemistry Labs NYSAES/ Cornell University Geneva, NY 14456 1-315-787-2435 .