Patent ID: 8586350

Claim:
An apparatus for separating and purifying nucleic acids comprising an integral monolith structure, wherein the monolith structure is a glass or a silica, and further comprising macro-pores continuously extending from one end of the monolith structure to the other end, wherein the said monolith structure contains micro-pores in the macro-pores, and the diameter of the micro-pores is less than or equal to 100 nm and allowing a solution containing nucleic acids to be separated to pass therethrough, wherein the diameter range of the macro-pores is selected according to the size of the nucleic acid to be purified and wherein the size range is selected from the group consisting of diameters of about 10 nanometers (nm) to about 100 nm configured to separate nucleic acids of 35 base pairs (bp) to 300 bp in length, diameters of about 100 nm to about 1 micrometers (μm) configured to separate nucleic acids of 300 bp to 3 kilobase pairs (Kbp) in length, diameters of about 1 μm to about 10 μm configured to separate nucleic acids of 3 Kbp to 30 Kbp in length, and diameters of about 10 μm to about 100 μm configured to separate nucleic acids of 30 Kbp to 300 Kbp in length.