What is a PCR cabinet?
A PCR cabinet or PCR workstation is a vertical laminar flow cabinet that is adjusted for the use of PCR equipment. It provides a downflow of filtered air to protect your experiment from cross-contamination with air contaminants. PCR cabinets always have an UV lamp to decontaminate the cabinet from RNA and DNA between 2 PCR cycles.
A PCR cabinet is in principle the same as a vertical laminar flow cabinet, but with a few adjustments:
- Reduced height: when doing PCR, you don’t need a lot of height. In fact, the manipulations around PCR involve mainly pipetting, which is done at work surface height.
- Optimized for quick UV decontamination. UV decontamination is very efficient to destroy RNA and DNA. For that reason, it is useful to have a quick method of activating the UV lamp between 2 PCR cycles. During the UV decontamination, the sash window must be closed to protect the operator. A PCR cabinet has a sash window with hinges that can easily be closed. When the sash window is closed, the UV lamp is automatically activated to start the UV decontamination.
- Electrical sockets and other items that are not resistant to prolonged exposure to UV radiation are not present in PCR cabinets.
- PCR cabinets also typically have a shelf near the UV lamp. Pipettes can be put on the shelf for decontamination.
Both cabinet types have an UV lamp and are optimized for a quick activation of UV decontamination. A PCR cabinet or PCR workstation has a downflow of filtered air, that protects the experiment against cross contamination with the air. A dead air box does not have this. A dead airbox is simply a cabinet with a UV lamp, and does not offer any kind of protection of your experiment from air contaminants when the cabinet is open.
Our products
Polymerase Chain Reaction is fundamental to almost all applications requiring a high copy number of starting material and is used in all laboratories working with DNA and RNA. Because of the high copy number generated during PCR, it is essential to prevent possible contamination of the PCR .
Esco Airstream® PCR Cabinet (PCR) is equipped with HEPA-filtered laminar flow, airflow monitoring, UV lamp & prefilter change alarm to provide a sterile environment for reagent and sample preparation during PCR mastermix preparation.
Polymerase Chain Reaction is fundamental to almost all applications requiring a high copy number of starting material and is used in all laboratories working with DNA and RNA. Because of the high copy number generated during PCR, it is essential to prevent possible contamination of the PCR .
Esco Airstream® PCR Cabinet (PCR) is equipped with HEPA-filtered laminar flow, airflow monitoring, UV lamp & prefilter change alarm to provide a sterile environment for reagent and sample preparation during PCR mastermix preparation.
In practice, all polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedures are conducted in the same room. Under these circumstances, PCR Cabinets are used for reagent preparation and sample preparation to minimize contamination. Because of the high copy number generated during PCR, it is essential to prevent possible contamination of the PCR.
Esco Streamline® PCR Cabinet (SCR) provides a compact and low footprint environment for handling reagents such as PCR master mixes. It is equipped with simple rocker switches to control blower, light, and UV. The HEPA-filtered air guarantees a contaminant-free environment for reliable PCR results.
