Question

Proteins can be removed via treatment by?

(a) Phenol and chloroform treatment

(b) Treatment with sodium hydroxide

(c) Chloroform treatment alone

(d) Centrifuging

This question was posed to me in final exam.

My question is taken from Purification of Plasmid DNA topic in chapter Basics of Genetic Engineering of Genetic Engineering

Answer 1

Correct answer is (a) Phenol and chloroform treatment

To explain I would say: Proteins can be removed via treatment with phenol and chloroform treatment. Chloroform is alone not sufficient. The phenol added helps in the destruction of proteins and chloroform helps in its dissolution under acidic conditions.