A UV transilluminator is a device used in molecular biology laboratories to view DNA or RNA that has been separated by electrophoresis through an agarose gel. The stained gel is exposed to a UV light source, causing the DNA to fluoresce and become visible.

UV transilluminators are useful for viewing samples to size a PCR product, purify DNA segments after a restriction enzyme digest, quantify DNA, or verify RNA integrity after extraction.

VWR offers a range of UV transilluminators that provide high-intensity UV illumination in a compact housing 1. Analytik Jena’s UVP FirstLight® Illuminators have a unique design that provides extremely uniform UV illumination, which is critical for accurate quantitative analysis.