Labconco Purifier Filtered PCR Enclosures 3970425 - Manual (Page 6)

Chapter 1: Introduction
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ISO Class 5 Definition
Airborne particulate cleanliness inside any PCR Enclosure is designated by ISO
Class 5, which is equivalent to 3520 particles 0.5 µm or larger per cubic meter of
air per ISO Standard 14644-1. ISO Class 5 cleanliness is illustrated in the table to
follow and is equivalent to Class 100 air conditions as defined by Federal Standard
209E. Class 100 is equal to 100 particles 0.5 µm or larger per cubic foot of air.
Table 1-1 Selected airborne particulate cleanliness classes for cleanrooms and clean zones.
ISO
classification
number (N)
Maximum concentration limits (particles/m3 of air) for particles equal to and
larger than the considered sizes shown below (concentration limits are
calculated in accordance with 3.2 of Standard 14644-1)
0.1 µm 0.2 µm 0.3 µm 0.5 µm 1 µm 5 µm
ISO Class 1 10 2
ISO Class 2 100 24 10 4
ISO Class 3 1 000 237 102 35 8
ISO Class 4 10 000 2 370 1 020 352 83
ISO Class 5 100 000 23 700 10 200 3 520 832 29
ISO Class 6 1 000 000 237 000 102 000 35 200 8 320 293
ISO Class 7 352 000 83 200 2 930
ISO Class 8 3 520 000 832 000 29 300
ISO Class 9 35 200 000 8 320 000 293 000
Table 1-1 ISO Classification Number (N)
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Definition
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), is a laboratory process in which a particular
DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a
large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA. In PCR, DNA is immersed in a
solution containing the enzyme DNA polymerase, unattached nucleotide bases (the
subunits that DNA is composed of), and “primers”, short sequences of nucleotides
designed to bind with an end of the desired DNA segment. Two primers are used:
one primer binds at one end of the desired segment on one of the two paired DNA
strands and the other primer binds at the other end but on the other strand. The
solution is heated to break the bonds between the strands of the DNA. When the
solution cools, the primers bind to the separated strands, and DNA polymerase
quickly builds a new strand by joining the free nucleotide bases to the primers.
When this process is repeated, a strand that was formed with one primer binds to
the other primer, resulting in a new strand that is restricted solely to the desired
segment. Thus, the region of DNA between the primers is selectively replicated.
Further repetitions of the process can produce billions of copies of a small piece of
DNA in several hours. PCR was developed in 1985 by Kary B. Mullis, who was
awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work. It is used in a broad
range of applications from DNA fingerprinting to medical tests to identify diseases