low boiling point

M.C. Diana Sara Leal Klevezas dsleal at ACADEM01.MTY.ITESM.MX
Thu Mar 23 16:34:46 EST 1995

Dear Roger W. 
I didn't realize that such a little DMSO could have that effect on 
temperature. Pardon my ignorance, I've got your point and thank you for the 

Dear netters:
Sorry my last message did't get thourgh complete, I have some other point 
regarding Greg's question. Fist of all I agreed with Geoff's comments. 
The presure inside the tubes must be much higher than enviromental 
pressure, Presure builds up when liquids and air within the tubes expand, 
therefore pressure in warmer-than-enviroment tubes must increase with 
temperature. Just make sure to use a good quality tube with a well-fit 
cap. The only sure way to know the answers to Greg's questions is trying 
it, and I'm sure everyone would like to know how this goes for Greg. 

If I'm wrong regarding the pressure building up in warm tubes, the 
possibilities are even more exciting, here is the idea: The water boils 
because the molecules get excited enough to do so. If less energy is 
needed to boil the water, less energy might be needed to break the 
hidrogen bonds between DNA strands, which means that under those 
circumstances, one might need lower temperatures to reach DNA melting 
point. If this is true, the consecuences are that your Taq will last 

Regards to everyone,

Diana Sara Leal-Klevezas
Centro de Investigacion Biomedica del Noreste
Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social
Monterrey, Mexico.

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