Introduction to Fluorescence in General Chemistry Using the Intercalation of Propidium Iodide with DNA

Abstract

The phenomenon of fluorescence is very important from multiple perspectives in the chemical and biological sciences. This paper introduces an experiment in a first-semester chemistry laboratory course that uses a current biomedical research method, the detection of double-stranded DNA using the intercalator propidium iodide. Fluorescence is detected both using blacklight illumination and also with white light and a spectrometer using the two excitation bands for propidium. This experiment also involves students obtaining DNA from strawberries and then determining the amount of DNA that they have isolated using fluorescence methods. The experiment provides students with an initial experience in fluorescence-based analytical chemistry and the concepts of fluorescence as a quantum phenomenon.