Intro
The final goal of this lab was to successfully measure the size of different samples of DNA by placing each sample into a well in agarose gel and running a current through a charged chamber. The DNA samples will move through the gel towards the positive charge. Ideally, the DNA will move and create and sequence of smallest to largest. This lab exposes us to DNA technology.
Backround
Gel electrophoresis is used to separate macromolecules like DNA or RNA by size or proteins by charge. To examine DNA and RNA, the fragments are placed in the agarose wells and an electrical charge is sent through, pushing the negatively charged molecules towards the positive side. The smaller the molecule, the less resistance it will face when hitting the pores of the gel, and the farther it will travel. Restriction enzymes are short nucleotide sequences used to cut DNA into segments, separating the fragment into pieces. When cut, two different ends will be produced, a sticky end or a blunt end. When a sticky end is created, it makes the double helix staggered, one end chills with an overhang above the other. These ends can connect to an identical sequence cut by the same restriction enzymes or a very similar end. Blunt ends are created when a restriction enzyme cuts the double helix evenly.
The Essay on Gel electrophoresis
The explosion of molecular biology techniques that began in the mid-1970s (and continues today) has provided tools to examine the physical structure of DNA, its nucleotide sequence and how genes are read and regulated. One key tool is the ability to visualize DNA molecules and determine their length by using a technique called gel electrophoresis. Introduction to gel electrophoresis In gel ...
