gel electrophoresis

American  

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a technique for separating protein molecules of varying sizes in a mixture by moving them through a block of gel, as of agarose or polyacrylamide, by means of an electric field, with smaller molecules moving faster and therefore farther than larger ones.

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gel electrophoresis Cultural  

1. A technique used in DNA fingerprinting and other processes in which large molecules are to be identified. Fragments of DNA are placed in a semiporous gel, and an electrical field is turned on. The fragments move in response to the field, with smaller fragments generally moving faster. After a time, the fragments have separated enough to form a series of separated lines like a bar code that characterizes the DNA.

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Example Sentences

Meanwhile, Belfast-based fertility firm Examen uses a technique known as single cell gel electrophoresis to identify DNA damage in individual sperm.

From BBC

This week, Sims said he had students at home do a virtual gel electrophoresis activity.

From Washington Times

In the first week, I was assigned a few simple molecular-biology tasks: performing a polymerase chain reaction and analysing samples using gel electrophoresis.

From Nature

That alters how the RNA behaves in a common lab procedure known as gel electrophoresis, making it easy to detect.

From Science Magazine

Investigators used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to find 11 illnesses with a similar genetic pattern, but whole genome sequencing definitively linked 10 and caused one to be tossed out as unrelated.

From Seattle Times