The QIAshredder homogenizer consists of a unique biopolymer-shredding system in a microcentrifuge spin-column format. Isolation of total or poly A+ RNA from cell or tissue lysates requires homogenization to reduce viscosity caused by high-molecular-weight cellular components and cell debris. Traditional methods use syringes and needles, which are tedious, inconvenient, and hazardous to handle. QIAshredder homogenizers replace these homogenization methods with a fast and simple centrifugation step. In general, similar yields and RNA quality are obtained for cell lysates as with rotor–stator homogenization (see figure "Comparison of RNA yields with different homogenization methods").
Up to 700 µl of cell or tissue lysate can be homogenized by pipetting or decanting the lysate into a QIAshredder homogenizer and centrifuging for 2 minutes at full speed in a microcentrifuge. The homogenized lysate is ready to use in nucleic acid isolation procedures.
QIAshredder homogenizers are suitable for use with the:
QIAshredder homogenizers are also included in the: