Technology & Knowledge

Frequently asked questions

58Is OD600 truly absorption?59How can OD600 be converted to cell count?

Knowledge Library

1Why do absorbance and fluorescence give different concentrations for the same DNA sample?2Why can the wrong blank change a nucleic acid concentration result?3Choosing the right conversion coefficient for A280 protein quantification 4A high standard-curve R² does not guarantee accurate concentrations

Is OD600 truly absorption?

The signal from a microbial suspension at 600 nm is mainly due to light scattering. Different optical geometries collect different amounts of scattered light, so it cannot simply be treated as molecular absorption.