an efficient method for dna extraction from paraffin wax embedded tissues for pcr amplification of human and viral dna

background and objective: formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues are a valuable source of dna for molecular studies. we designed and optimized an efficient procedure for dna extraction from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues. materials and methods: seventy three blocks of cervical paraffin-embedded tissues were investigated. dna was extracted using 45 minutes boiling in alkaline solution together with 10 beads of chelex-20, followed by phenol-chloroform extraction and alcohol precipitation. results: this method produced dna suitable for amplification using primers specific for human smn and β globin genes in 98.63% and 82.2% of samples respectively. we also detected human papillomavirus dna in 58.33% of appropriate samples. conclusion: this procedure provides simple and efficient method for recovery of amplifiable genomic and viral dna from paraffin wax embedded tissues.