| 1. | Under a light microscope, look for presence of hair bulb at the end of the hair shaft. Using a surgical blade cut away most of the hair shaft leaving ~ 5mm attached to the bulb. Place into the bottom of a thermal cycling tube using sterile tweezers. |
| 2. | Use approximately 4 hairs per sample. |
| 3. | If the hairs have been stored in solvent, then wash by placing in distilled water prior to transfer into the thermal cycling tube. |
| 4. | Resuspend the GeneReleaser® by inverting 10 - 20 times. |
| 5. | Add 20µl of GeneReleaser® to each tube. |
| 6. | Vortex mix ~ 30 seconds. |
| 7. | Using a pipette tip, ensure the hairs are pushed to the bottom of the tube and are covered with the GeneReleaser®. |
| 8. | Add mineral oil overlay. |
| 9. | Using the standard microwave method, place in microwave for required time. Determine this by using the "microwave evaluation" enclosed. |
| 10. | Successful amplification has been achieved from samples stored at 4°C or -20°C, providing they are heated to 80°C before added to the PCR reaction mix. |
| 11. | Using a wide-bore pipette, take 3µl from the tube containing the GeneReleaser® and the hair sample, taking care to leave the hairs behind. Add directly to the PCR reaction mix; 10µl total volume. |
