Why is the DNA used for many purposes like carrier DNA for yeast transformation specifically from fish AND their sperm? Is it available in such big quantities and easily obtained? Why not DNA from some microorganism, which can be grown in large quantities in bioreactors? Maybe because it would be harder to purify?
Great question, but what I know folks also use Calf thymus DNA for same purpose..
Exactly, it's just that it was easy to obtain DNA from herring sperm, etc. back in the day. See e.g. PMID 13069500.
I think this explains it:
"The method described here for the isolation of NaDNA is applicable to tissues extremely rich in this substance, such as thymus, spermatozoa, and prepared nuclei."
So why is it that sperm and thymus are so rich in DNA? Do they contain just few contaminating proteins? Or is the DNA content increased in those tissues?
Hi Tomáš, I don't know the answer, but my guess is that someone used herring sperm DNA years ago and it worked.
Check out this paper from 1931.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/path.1700340411/abstract
Secondly, most scientists are loathed to come up with new a reagent because they have to do a detailed comparison of their reagent to the established reagent in order to get a paper published.
It's much easier just to use the same reagent that everybody else uses and there is no problem with reviewers.
I assume that it was easy to obtain sufficient amounts in the old days. Since herring has become rare, salmon sperm (I suppose from farmed salmon) has become a common replacement.
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