Comparison of a radioactive and non-radioactive method for sequencing foot and mouth disease virus isolates.

The authors compare the radioactive method of detecting foot and mouth disease virus sequence products with a non-radioactive, silver stain sequencing method. The latter was found to compare favourably to the radioactive technique for detecting such products. The silver stain sequencing method was simple and did not require expensive specialised equipment. This new approach will be particularly useful in developing countries, since the method does not depend on the availability of fresh radioactive isotopes and is also safer and considerably cheaper.