Efficient and cost-effective extraction of genomic DNA from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues.

Diagnostic and investigative molecular pathology frequently has to resort to extraction of DNA from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Although many different protocols are reported for this type of material, extraction of sufficient amounts of intact DNA is still challenging. Here, the authors report a reproducible, simple, cost-effective, and efficient protocol that yields up to 140 μg of DNA from approximately 10 to 15 mg of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples and compare it to available protocols. The protocol allows stable amplification of DNA fragments up to 600 bp in length in a wide variety of tissues.