What: "The gel serves as a solid mesh to support the biological sample as is it separated by the electrical field. The gel is like a kitchen sponge, but with a microscopic network of holes and connections. For DNA samples, generally a gel is made like you would make jell-o, by heating up a polymer (agarose) with liquid, poring it into a mold, and allowing the network to solidify. (Fun fact: agarose is made from seaweed, and is actually in some products like toothpaste and gummy snacks!) For protein samples, generally a finer network (smaller holes) is required, so a gel is made of a different polymer (acrylamide).

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Date: Aug 26 2013 5:43 PM