NanoDrop Product Software Download. Fill out the form below to download the latest version of software for NanoDrop Spectrophotometers. Clean the pedestals of the Thermo Scientific NanoDrop™ 1000 Spectrophotometer or the NanoDrop™ 8000 Spectrophotometer using the following procedure: 1. Apply 5 ul of dH 2 0 solution to the bottom pedestal. Lower the upper pedestal arm to form a liquid column; let it sit for approximately 2-3 minutes 3. Your NanoDrop® ND-1000 Spectrophotometer should now be ready for operation. If the software does not start properly, refer to the “Troubleshooting” section for possible solutions. Configuring the System Font The NanoDrop software is designed to look best with the MS Sans Serif font, 8 point. To check that the system font is set.
NanoDrop 1000 Software is required to operate the NanoDrop 1000 instrument. This software logs the data received from the NanoDrop 1000 in an archive file on the computer. The sample data can be opened by a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. Opening NanoDrop Software Screen: In place of the opening Nucleic Acids software window in the original NanoDrop software, there is now a Main Menu, the Opening screen for NanoDrop software from which all software modules are accessed. Revision & Expansion of Blanking Options. The same functionality of the original.
If your sample volume is very low, you may want to measure 1µl instead of the recommended 2µl. In my hands, however, this doubles the measurement error from about 0.5% to 1% standard deviation/mean. These figures are from repeated measurement of 2 RNA samples, which resulted in 3.5ng/µl SD for a mean of 689ng/µl (2µl volume) vs. 9.2ng/µl SD for a mean of 778ng/µl (1µl), n=5. -- Jakob 2009/7
If you see that a liquid column is not being formed, the surfaces may have been un-conditioned by protein or surfactants. Rub each surface 15-20 times with a dry Kimwipe to buff. Using 2 μL samples should ensure the formation of a column.
Occasionally, the Nanodrop can give strange readings. One method to help prevent against this is (after you blank the instrument and wipe the sensor) to pipette on 2 μL of your blank once more and click measure. Then verify that the absorbance is at or near 0 for all wavelengths. If it is not, reclean the sensor and start again. Perhaps this effect is due to a liquid column not being formed?
We had issues of the Nanodrop freezing up sporadically during measurement such that the software became completely unresponsive and the machine was stuck in a measurement state. Tech support responded and said that static discharge can interfere with the computer/machine connection. They had previously sent out a batch of cables which were defective. The USB cable should be white not black. If your USB cable is black, you should probably call them up and ask for a replacement. --Austin 15:17, 18 April 2006 (EDT)
How does the Nanodrop convert A260 to concentration in ng/uL?
From the nanodrop user manual (download at http://nanodrop.com/Support.aspx?Type=User%20Guides&Cat=NanoDrop%201000 )
The Beer-Lambert equation is used to correlate the calculated absorbance with concentration:
A = E * b * c
Where A is the absorbance represented in absorbance units (A), E is the wavelength-dependent molar absorptivity coefficient (or extinction coefficient) with units of liter/mol-cm, b is the path length in cm, and c is the analyte concentration in moles/liter or molarity (M).
c = A/(E * b)
Where c is the nucleic acid concentration in ng/microliter, A is the absorbance in AU, e is the wavelength-dependent extinction coefficient in ng-cm/microliter and b is the path length in cm. The generally accepted extinction coefficients for nucleic acids are:
• Double-stranded DNA: 50
• Single-stranded DNA: 33
• RNA: 40
For the NanoDrop® ND-1000 Spectrophotometer,paths of 1.0 mm and 0.2 mm are used compared to a standard spectrophotometer using a 10.0 mm path. Thus, the NanoDrop® ND-1000 Spectrophotometer is capable of measuring samples that are 50 times more concentrated than can be measured in a standard spectrophotometer.
Note: absorbance data shown in archive files are represented as displayed on the software screen. For Nucleic Acid, Protein A280 and Proteins and Labels modules, data are normalized to a 1.0 cm (10.0 mm) path. For MicroArray, UV-Vis, Protein BCA, Protein Bradford, Protein Lowry and Cell Culture modules the data are normalized to a 0.1 cm (1.0 mm) path. For high absorbance UV-Vis samples, data are normalized to a 0.1mm path.
Other References
Comparing concentrations obtained with the calculated extinction coefficient vs. the nanodrop constant:
Calculated concentration was ~20% lower for two RNA sequences (subtillis pheB and BBa_I7101 mRNA) ~~cmc 11:13, 2 Jun 2005 (EDT)
Suggests that for short oligos it is important to calculate the extinction coefficient of a sequence of interest, but that for large molecules the following average extinction coefficients should be used:dsDNA: 50 (uG/ml)-1
ssDNA or RNA: 38 (uG/ml)-1
When you are measuring the concentration of DNA at 260 nm, the softwareautomatically compensates for the fact that you are measuring your sample at a 1 mm path length instead of the standard 1 cm pathlength. For cell culture at OD 600 nm, the software does not do the same thing. Instead it displays the 1mm absorbance. Why?
This answer was received in an email response from an Application Scientist at Nanodrop Technologies, Inc.
'Yes, the Cell Cultures module is currently displayed at 1 mm and not 10 mm.
Note: absorbance data shown in archive files are represented as displayed onthe software screen. For Nucleic Acid, Protein A280 and Proteins and Labelsmodules, data are normalized to a 1.0 cm (10.0 mm) path. For MicroArray,UV-Vis, Protein BCA, Protein Bradford, Protein Lowry and Cell Culturemodules the data are normalized to a 0.1 cm (1.0 mm) path. For highabsorbance UV-Vis samples, data are normalized to a 0.1mm path.
Regarding microbial cell cultures in suspension:
The short answer: The ND-1000 can be used to estimate bacterial growthcultures, and any limitations will be similar to limitations of otherspectrophotometers.
The long answer: The fundamental issue surrounding bacterial culture growthmeasurements is that an absorbance spectrophotometer is being asked todetermine light scattering caused by particulates in suspension. In thiscase, transmittance is not related to absorbance in the classical sense.Under normal true absorbance conditions, spectrophotometers can becomparable to one another because the sample actually absorbselectromagnetic energy. In the case of a reduction of transmittance causedby light scattering, readings are very dependent on the optics of a specificspectrophotometer as well as the cell type in suspension. For bacterialgrowth determination, even 1cm path length systems can vary greatly due tothe variability of the optics of each system. The ND-1000 will display an'absorbance' value approximately 10 fold less than 1cm systems due to thefact that the instrument is utilizing a 1mm path length. However, thedifference will not be exactly 10 fold due to the reasons I've describedabove. The point is that the differences between the ND-1000 and a'conventional' spec (apart from the 10 fold difference due to path length),will be similar to differences found between spectrophotometers that utilizea 1cm path length.'