Gel Electrophoresis Principle, Mechanism and Applications

 Gel Electrophoresis

It is a technique commonly used in lab to separate charged molecules according to their size like DNA, Protein and RNA. ‘Electro’ means:  ‘Electricity’ and ‘Phoroesis’ means; Separation.

 This electrophoretic technique use agarose gel as a supporting medium to separate different biomolecules that’s why it is called Gel electrophoresis.

Principle:

When the electric current is applied, the rate of migration is directly proportional to the molecular size. The smaller molecule moves faster while larger molecules moves slowly through agarose gel solution.

Mechanism:

Ø A casting tray containing gel is fixed with two oppositely charged electrodes at opposite ends.

Ø Pour the sample in the Agarose gel by using micropipette

Ø The charged molecules move when the current is applied.

Ø Gel is permeable matric by which molecules can travel.

Ø Molecules migrate towards the opposite charges.

Ø Small molecules move through gel quickly and travel faster than larger fragments.

Ø As a result, molecules are separated by size.

Applications of Gel Electrophoresis:

Ø Use in DNA Fingerprinting.

Ø Use for Paternity testing.

Ø Used for estimation of molecular weight of protein and nucleic acid.

Ø Purification of isolated protein.

Ø Identification of different biomolecules.

Ø Use in Forensic study.