Biology / Unit 7 Bio 1523 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Gel Electrophoresis
Captions available
The idea
Gel electrophoresis separates DNA or RNA fragments by size, using an electric field to pull the negatively charged fragments through a porous gel.
In practice
Smaller fragments move farther through the gel than larger fragments in the same amount of time, forming a ladder of separated bands.
Where people slip
Electrophoresis separates fragments by size alone — it does not itself reveal a fragment's sequence.
Your place on the trail
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