Comparison of nucleic acid extraction platforms for detection of select biothreat agents for use in clinical resource limited settings

► We compared biothreat nucleic acid extraction efficiency for two different platforms. ► Real-time PCR monitored biothreat DNA/RNA extraction from buffer and whole blood. ► QG-Mini80 and QIAamp performed similarly for DNA extraction. ► QIAamp performed better than QG-Mini80 for RNA extraction. ► QG-Mini80 could be used in resource-limited setting for biothreat DNA extraction.