Mag Beads

What are Magnetic Bead DNA/RNA Co-Extraction Kits for Cells, Tissue, and Blood?

Magnetic bead DNA/RNA co-extraction kits for cells, tissue, and blood simultaneously isolate genomic DNA and total RNA, including small RNAs >=17 nt from mammalian cell pellets (up to 5 × 10^6), solid tissue biopsies (up to 30 mg), and whole blood (up to 50 ul) in 96-well format using paramagnetic silica-coated beads on automation platforms. The Zymo Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit includes DNA/RNA Shield for sample lysis and stabilization, Proteinase K for tissue digestion, and DNase I for on-bead gDNA removal from the RNA fraction, producing both analytes in separate eluates from the same input without any centrifugation during the purification phase. Choose the magnetic bead format for DNA/RNA co-extraction from cells, tissue, and blood when processing 48+ samples per session, when running gene therapy tissue panels across 10+ organ types, or when automation infrastructure eliminates the bottleneck of manual spin-column switching for large sample sets.

What you will find:

How to Choose a Magnetic Bead DNA/RNA Co-Extraction Kit for Cells, Tissue, and Blood

Automation Platform Compatibility

Confirm instrument scripts are available before kit purchase. The Zymo Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit is validated on Tecan Fluent, Hamilton STAR, Beckman Coulter Biomek, and KingFisher platforms. For other instruments, consult MBP's technical team or contact Zymo Research automation support for custom script development timelines and requirements.

DNase I Inclusion and Timing

The Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit includes DNase I for automated on-bead treatment, which integrates into the platform workflow script without additional liquid-handling steps. For spin-column co-extraction kits, DNase I treatment adds a separate 15-minute off-robot incubation step; the bead format eliminates this, reducing total protocol time for RNA-seq-grade RNA in 96-well batches.

Tissue Homogenization Before Bead Extraction

Solid tissue requires homogenization before adding lysate to the bead extraction plate. Tissue homogenization options: (a) Proteinase K digestion in DNA/RNA Shield at 55 degrees C for 30-60 minutes (soft tissues); (b) bead-mill homogenization using a 96-well bead mill with 2.8 mm ceramic beads (fibrous tissues); (c) MagBead Lysis Tubes for direct mechanical lysis in individual tubes before transfer to the 96-well plate. Confirm the homogenization approach is compatible with the platform's liquid transfer steps.

Sample Stabilization With DNA/RNA Shield

DNA/RNA Shield added at tissue collection stabilizes both DNA and RNA at room temperature for up to 30 days, enabling same-day or next-day extraction without cold-chain handling. This is particularly important for gene therapy biodistribution studies where multiple tissue types are collected from the same animal at necropsy and must maintain RNA integrity through shipping or batch processing delays.

Small RNA Retention

Silica-bead binding in the Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit retains the full RNA size spectrum, including miRNAs >=17 nt. For cancer multi-omics studies requiring paired DNA sequencing, RNA-seq, and small RNA-seq from the same tumour biopsy, this single kit delivers all three analyte types from one input without additional small RNA-specific extraction steps.

Specifications Context

The Zymo Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit yields high-quality gDNA and total RNA (including small RNAs >=17 nt) from any biological sample, with both analytes ready for NGS, RT-qPCR, and microarray. A 2024 study validated simultaneous DNA and RNA extraction for AAV gene therapy tissue panels - adrenal gland, brain, gonads, heart, kidney, liver, lung, skeletal muscle, spinal cord, spleen- using automated co-extraction on a Beckman Coulter system, achieving a 100% pass rate for both VCN analysis (DNA) and transgene expression analysis (RNA) across 10 tissue types. Magnetic bead DNA/RNA co-extraction from tissue is standard in gene therapy pharmacology and toxicology studies, with the Zymo Quick-DNA/RNA MagBead Kit among the most cited formats in published methods papers and regulatory submission CMC sections for AAV gene therapies.

Contact the expert team at MBP Inc. today and get reliable mag bead systems for automated lab workflows.