Hydrogen peroxide agarose gels for electrophoretic analysis of RNA

Efficient electrophoretic separation of isolated total RNA utilizes chemicals and agents to aid in nuclease free environment. However cost, extensive pre-run processing protocols as well as toxic byproducts limit the usage of such protocols. Moreover, these treatments affect the overall electrophoretic results by altering the conductivity of the running buffer and weaken the gel strength. We here provide a protocol for RNA visualization that obviates these shortcomings by preparation of agarose gel with hydrogen peroxide using the regular TAE buffer. The simple, inexpensive protocol exhibits superior results in a horizontal agarose gel electrophoresis.