Patent ID: 7727727

Claim:
A method of treating a biological sample for extraction of nucleic acid therefrom comprising treating the sample with at least one protein denaturant and at least one aprotic solvent selected from the group consisting of formamide, dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylacetamide, acetronitrile, benzene, toluene, acetone, cyclohexane, n-heptane, sulfur dioxide and hexamethylphosphoramide, wherein the method is carried out at a temperature at or above 4° C.; wherein the protein denaturant is selected from the group consisting of a surfactant which is surfactin, a solvent selected from the group consisting of phenol, chloroform and isoamylalcohol, an amide selected from the group consisting of N-ethylacetamide, N-butylacetamide and N,N-dimethylacetamide, a reducing agent selected from the group consisting of glutathione, β-mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol, a base selected from the group consisting of KOH, NaOH, NH 4 OH and Ca(OH) 2 , a protein denaturing salt selected from the group consisting of NaCl, KCl, LiCl, NH 4 Cl, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and perchlorate salt, and combinations thereof.