Molecular Pathology- Miscellaneous I
Question No. 22. The Answer is: (B) Heparin.
Discussion: Heparin has been shown to inhibit DNA polymerase and is therefore not the preferred type of sample for PCR analysis. Carrier-over heparin into the PCR may inhibit the reaction. Heparinized blood or bone marrow samples will generally still work for most molecular applications but may not give optimal results. Lavender top blood tubes contain EDTA ACD tubes are yellow topped. Both ACD and EDTA tubes are acceptable for molecular methods. EDTA will chelate magnesium that is needed for PCR reactions but extraction procedures generally removes this chelator from the nucleic acids.