Choosing DNA Purification in Ethanol vs. Isopropanol?

Ethanol is usually the solvent of choice when it comes to precipitating DNA out of a solution but you can also use isopropanol and basically get the same results in the end. So, why do some people use ethanol while some prefer to use isopropanol? What is the difference between the two and how do you know which solvent touse for DNA purification? Here are some things you need to know to help you choose the most suitable solvent for your experimentations.

As mentioned earlier, you can use ethanol or isopropanol in precipitating DNA from the solution and get the same end results. However, the solubility of DNA differs in each of these solvent. For the record, DNA is less soluble and falls out of the solution faster even when low concentrations of isopropanol are used but there is a tendency that the salt will co-precipitate with the DNA.On the other hand, a higher concentration of ethanol is needed to precipitate DNA from the solution but then the salts tend to stay soluble, even at lower temperatures.