Study on monitoring nucleic acid contamination in laboratory and its application

Monitoring nucleic acid contamination in laboratories is essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay results. Compared to traditional chemical reagent-based extraction, magnetic bead extraction is a targeted adsorption method for extracting DNA, offering greater efficiency and minor hazard. However, the effectiveness of this method in detecting nucleic acid contaminations in laboratory remains unclear. This study aimed to develop a PCR-based laboratory environmental monitoring method to investigate the effectiveness of magnetic bead extraction for detecting nucleic acid contamination. To mimic nucleic acid contamination, Staphylococcus aureus was aerosolized in a PCR laboratory. Following sampling, nucleic acid extraction was performed using the magnetic bead extraction method. Samples were analyzed using quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR (qPCR), and the concordance between the magnetic bead extraction results and theoretical results was assessed. This study presents a PCR laboratory nucleic acid contamination monitoring protocol. The results demonstrated that the nucleic acid detection outcomes obtained using the magnetic bead extraction method were consistent with the theoretical results across all regions tested using this protocol. The magnetic bead extraction method demonstrated comparable detection outcomes to the theoretical results in monitoring laboratory environments. This approach provides a more efficient and environmental friendly method of monitoring the laboratory environment.