We analyzed 414 total RNA sample profiles from various human tissues (69%) and cell lines (31%) of either tumoral (85%) or normal (15%) origin, with varying levels of RNA integrity. Supplementary Table 1 online for details). Significant differences in A 260 :A 280 ratios were observed between specific groups of samples (i.e. tumoral versus normal or tissues versus cell lines). For instance, RNA extracted from normal samples displayed an improved ratio of 1.97, with 97% falling within the desired range ( Figure 2A ). In contrast, the distribution of A 260 :A 280 ratios was not found to correlate with either purification methods or tissues of origin.