Nucleic acid quantitation

In molecular biology, quantitation of nucleic acids is commonly performed to determine the average concentrations of DNA or RNA present in a mixture, as well as their purity. Reactions that use nucleic acids often require particular amounts and purity for optimum performance. To date, there are two main approaches used by scientists to quantitate, or establish the concentration, of nucleic acids (such as DNA or RNA) in a solution. These are spectrophotometric quantification and UV fluorescence tagging in presence of a DNA dye.^{[citation needed]}