Electrophoresis Apparatus Principle and Application

Electrophoresis

‘Electro’ means:  ‘Electricity’ and ‘Phoroesis’ means; Separation.

In the 1930s Arne Tiselius developed a method called electrophoresis, which makes use of this phenomenon to separate and identify different substances from one another.

Electrophoresis Principle:

 “Migration of charged particles or molecules under influence of electric charge”.

Electrophoresis Apparatus:

Its system consists of two electrodes of opposite charge i.e. anode and cathode connected by a charge source. Conducting media such as gel or polyacrylamide works as an electrolyte on a plastic tray or casting tray.

Cataphoresis	Anaphoresis
Ø Electrophoresis of positively charged particles (cations) is sometimes called cataphoresis. Ø Cation moves toward the cathode. Ø Example; silver, gold, and other metals.	Ø Electrophoresis of negatively charged particles (anions) are sometimes called Anaphoresis. Ø Anion moves towards the anode. Ø DNA, RNA and Protein.

 

Applications of Electrophoresis:

Ø  Medical Research such as studying DNA sequencing.
Ø  Forensic testing.
Ø  Identification of Biomolecules such as DNA and Protein.
Ø  Agriculture testing.
Ø  Separation of organic compounds such as carbohydrates, protein, amino acids, nucleic acid, insulin, etc.
Ø  In the Food industry.
Ø  To analyze polymer chain reaction.
Use to diagnose various diseases.