title: Cost-effective gel documentation using a web-cam.
abstract: In search for a cost effective gel documentation system applicable for different fields of molecular biology, we analyzed the capabilities of a cheap CCD-camera originally designed to capture images for transmission through the internet (web-cam) with regard to gel documentation. The camera was connected to a personal computer by universal serial bus (USB) and used for the documentation of DNA separated on agarose gels and stained by ethidium-bromide using the software provided with the camera. The web-cam provided digital images of sufficient quality for routine documentation and combined the low set-up costs of a Polaroid system with the low running costs of video capture systems, hence is ideal as a start-up system and as augmentation to existing equipment.
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Research Center Borstel, Parkallee 1-40, D-23845 Borstel, Germany. tgoldmann@fz-borstel.de
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goldmann
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zyzik
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loeschke
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vollmer
mesh_terms: D003201:Computers; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004586:Electrophoresis / Q000379:methods*; D004996:Ethidium / Q000494:pharmacology; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004996:Ethidium