Ivo Nikolaev Sirakov

tiviral aptamers reported and including a description of some of the novel methods devel‐ oped for their use as diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The eighth chapter highlights the current advantages and flexibilities of the DNA G-quadruplex and its potentiality in con‐ ventional diagnostic platforms that use protein enzymes. The ninth chapter includes advan‐ ces in medical aspects related to gene-silencing therapeutics, focusing mainly on DNAzymes and siRNA and their integral role in future antigene therapies. Finally, the two last chapters summarize the current state of knowledge on bacterial RNA thermometers, including sever‐ al aspects and techniques applied to identifying different families of RNA thermometers and a review on the thermodynamics of the denaturation transition of DNA duplex oligom‐

It is our sincere hope that this book on some widely used methods for studying the several types of nucleic acids and their related molecules will inspire future translational studies focusing on targeting nucleic acid regulatory mechanisms as a strategy in several therapies

This book will serve as a textbook for the research community, academia, and the industry and provides up-to-date state-of-the-art information presented by recognized international experts in the field of the molecular biology. They have contributed to the publication of this book of high importance to researchers, scientists, engineers, and graduate students who make use of these different investigations to understand the hazardous implications in the use of nucleic acids. The provision of the publishing Web platform by the publisher InTech

> **Prof. Dr. Marcelo Larramendy** Principal Researcher CONICET

National University of La Plata

National University of La Plata

La Plata, Argentina

**Dr. Sonia Soloneski**

Argentina

School of Natural Sciences and Museum

School of Natural Sciences and Museum

ers in the context of nearest neighbor models.

in a variety of illness and diseases.

VIII Preface

is gratefully acknowledged.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/61833

#### **Abstract**

Nucleic acids are not only a source of life but also a means of observing, understanding, and regulating it. Nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, and their characteristics are discussed in other chapters of the book. This chapter describes the fundamental principles of different methods for nucleic acid sample preparation / nucleic acid extraction, such as columnbased methods using silica membranes and traditional ones without a column purifica‐ tion procedure (commercially available or homemade). Other topics discussed here include comparative analysis of the use of these methods in DNA and RNA extraction from a variety of biological and clinical samples, as well as the relationship between the type of sample, the method used and the quality and amount of extracted DNA or RNA. Finally, the chapter outlines the application of nucleic acids in the diagnosis of various diseases, in scientific research, and bird sex determination by downstream applications such as restriction enzyme analysis, polymerase chain reactions (PCR, reverse transcrip‐ tion-PCR, real-time PCR), and different sequencing methods (Sanger, cycling sequencing, and next-generation sequencing).

**Keywords:** DNA extraction, RNA extraction, PCR methods, next-generation sequencing
