Patent ID: 6855816

Claim:
A method for isolating and purifying nucleic acids and/or oligonucleotides from a biological sample, said method comprising: (a) disrupting the biological sample; (b) optionally removing protein and insoluble components from said disrupted sample; (c) adding an aqueous solution of potassium acetate to said disrupted sample and subsequently separating non-soluble components from the aqueous solution; (d) mixing said aqueous solution of potassium acetate containing said disrupted sample with an alcoholic solution containing SDS; (e) incubating said mixed solution; (f) obtaining the supernatant of said mixed solution; (g) contacting and incubating said supernatant with a suspension of silicon dioxide or silica gel to produce a bound fraction and a soluble fraction; and (h) isolating purified nucleic acids and/or oligonucleotides from said bound fraction.