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Northern blot vs. Southern blot

noun
  1. a procedure for studying the activity of a specific gene, as in testing for a hereditary defect: RNA fragments in an extract of a cell population or a tissue are separated by gel electrophoresis, transferred to a filter, and then hybridized with labeled DNA or RNA derived from a laboratory-engineered copy of the gene in order to identify the size and abundance of the RNA expressed by that gene.
noun
  1. a procedure for identifying and measuring the amount of a specific DNA sequence or gene in a mixed extract, as in testing for a mutation or a virus: DNA strands from the person or organism under study are cut with restriction enzymes, separated by gel electrophoresis, transferred to special filter paper, and hybridized with a labeled DNA probe.

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