Northern Blot Technology

Northern blot technology is a method used in molecular biology research to study gene expression by detection of RNA (or isolated mRNA) in a sample. Northern blotting involves the extraction of total RNA from a homogenized tissue sample or from cells, separation of RNA samples with electrophoresis by size, and detection with a hybridization probe complementary to part of or the entire target sequence. Northern blotting allows one to observe a particular gene's expression pattern between tissues, organs, developmental stages, environmental stress levels, pathogen infection, and over the course of treatment. The expression patterns obtained under given conditions can provide insight into the function of that gene.