UV TRANSILLUMINATOR

UV-transilluminators

•UV-transilluminators are used in molecular biology labs to view DNA (or RNA) that has been separated by electrophoresis through an agarose gel.

•Samples are placed on the illumination Ultraviolet Radiation 265 platform and are illuminated by the UV light

•Transilluminators usually come with an adjustable UV blocking cover on top to protect the user from harmful UV

•These UV blocking covers should not be removed since viewing fluorescently labeled DNA unprotected can cause damage to the face and eyes

Rules for UV transilluminator operation

1.The acrylic shield / UV blocking cover supplied should be closed while the UV light is on.

2.If the work requires the shield to remain open:

3.All persons in the room must cover all exposed skin.

4.Face and eyes must be covered by wearing an appropriate UV absorbing full face shield.

5.Heavy duty rubber gloves should be worn on the hands, standard laboratory gloves are not suitable for hand protection from UV.

Photodocumentation of gel apparatus

•A gel doc, also known as a gel documentation system, gel image system or gel imager, is equipment widely used in molecular biology laboratories for the imaging and documentation of nucleic acid and protein suspended within polyacrylamide or agarose gels. 

•Ethidium bromide or other fluorophores such as SYBR Green. Generally, a gel doc includes an ultraviolet (UV) light transilluminator

•Ahood or a darkroom to shield external light sources and protect the user from UV exposure

•CCD or CMOS camera for image capturing.

•Manufacturers -Syngene, UVP , Bioolympics and Biorad. 

•Modern imagers have features to handle a variety of fluorescence and chemiluminescence 

To photograph a gel

•It is better to be worked as two persons: One place the gel in geldoc, another one operate computer software

•Place the gel, and close the doors. Turn on the visible light. Fine-tune the focus on the gel surface, and the gel should be centered.

•Set the shutter speed. (Generally 1 second exposure). Brighter objects (e.g., high EtBr staining) try a faster exposure setting. Faint objects may need a long exposure.  Adjust the aperture (the shutter diaphram).

•Check that the doors and the view window are closed, and that the visible light is turned off. Turn the UV source.

• Take a picture by pressing capture button. Save the file in a folder

•When finished, clean the UV box surface and turn off the UV transilluminator.

•Note: Visible light photographs can be taken with visible light souce on and the doors housing doors open: remove the UV filter, set the f-stop to 16, and use a shutter speed of 1/125 or 1/60 second.