Lipofectamine or Lipofectamine 2000 is a common transfection

Transfection

Transfection is the process of deliberately introducing nucleic acids into cells. The term is used notably for non-viral methods in eukaryotic cells...

 reagent

Reagent

A reagent is a "substance or compound that is added to a system in order to bring about a chemical reaction, or added to see if a reaction occurs." Although the terms reactant and reagent are often used interchangeably, a reactant is less specifically a "substance that is consumed in the course of...

, produced and sold by Invitrogen

Invitrogen

Invitrogen Corporation was a large, multinational biotechnology company headquartered in Carlsbad, California. In November 2008, a merger between Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen was finalized...

, used in molecular and cellular biology. It is used to introduce, that is transfect, siRNA

Sírna

Sírna Sáeglach , son of Dian mac Demal, son of Demal mac Rothechtaid, son of Rothechtaid mac Main, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...

 or plasmid

Plasmid

In microbiology and genetics, a plasmid is a DNA molecule that is separate from, and can replicate independently of, the chromosomal DNA. They are double-stranded and, in many cases, circular...

 DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 into in vitro

In vitro

In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...

 cell culture

Cell culture

Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...

s by lipofection

Lipofection

Lipofection is a technique used to inject genetic material into a cell by means of liposomes, which are vesicles that can easily merge with the cell membrane since they are both made of a phospholipid bilayer. Lipofection generally uses a positively charged lipid to form an aggregate with the...

. Lipofectamine reagent contains lipid subunits that can form liposomes in a aquaeous environment, which entrapt the transfection materials, i.e. DNA plasmids. The DNA-containing liposomes can fuse with the plasma membrane of living cells and are engulfed, allowing nucleic acid

Nucleic acid

Nucleic acids are biological molecules essential for life, and include DNA and RNA . Together with proteins, nucleic acids make up the most important macromolecules; each is found in abundance in all living things, where they function in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information...

s to cross into the cytoplasm and contents to be available to the cell for replication or expression. This method of transfection was invented by Dr. Yongliang Chu at Life Technologies, Inc.