Topic cluster

Gels and blotting

Agarose and polyacrylamide electrophoresis, transfer methods and how laboratories judge bands, ladders and blot controls.

western blot antibody sds page ligation electrophoresis agarose apparent mass dilution series dna dna cleanup ethidium bromide exposure gel extraction hybridisation loading control overload sourcing transfer

26 articles

Agarose gel with glowing DNA bands on a UV transilluminator under an orange safety shield

gels and blotting

A glossary of electrophoresis terms

Define anode, cathode, sieving, mobility, stacking, resolving, electroendosmosis, Rf, and leading dye for an honest gel reading.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

Pillar · gels and blotting

Agarose gel electrophoresis for DNA

How agarose percentage, buffer and a size ladder turn a DNA sample into a band, and what that band does and does not prove about identity.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

pH electrode in a beaker of buffer while a gloved hand adds drops from a dropper bottle

gels and blotting

Blocking buffers and background signal

Choose milk or BSA and a wash that fits the antibody, then decide whether speckles are sample signal or block, secondary, or a dried membrane.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

gels and blotting

Capillary electrophoresis versus slab gels

Choose a slab-gel photograph or a capillary electropherogram from the record, the resolution, and the failures you can actually check.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

gels and blotting

Choosing agarose percentage for a fragment

Choose an agarose percentage from the expected fragment size and a ladder that brackets it, balancing resolution, gel strength and run time.

8 October 2026 · 9 min read

Gloved hands pouring acrylamide solution between glass plates in a gel casting stand

gels and blotting

Comparing agarose and polyacrylamide

Choose agarose or polyacrylamide from the molecule and the size, including tank geometry, resolution, and the monomer hazard.

8 October 2026 · 7 min read

gels and blotting

Ethidium bromide alternatives and still the hazards

Compare ethidium bromide with blue-light and UV nucleic-acid dyes, then match the stain to the imager, the waste rule, and the safety data sheet.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

gels and blotting

Gel documentation without overexposing bands

Save a gel image you can interpret: keep the ladder visible, avoid saturation, and do not let an overexposed no-template lane become a false positive.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

gels and blotting

Gel extraction of a DNA band

Compare a cut DNA band with a column cleanup: UV damage, carryover that blocks ligation, lower yield, and when not to slice.

8 October 2026 · 7 min read

gels and blotting

How much sample to load

Separate an invisible lane from an overloaded one with a dilution series, and tell a blown blot from a degraded sample.

8 October 2026 · 7 min read

Gloved hands lifting a western blot membrane with forceps over a buffer tray, rocking shaker behind

gels and blotting

Loading controls on a western blot

Pick a western loading control for the comparison you are making. A housekeeping band can move, and a total-protein stain is the other argument.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read

Gloved hand weighing white powder with a spatula inside an analytical balance draft shield

gels and blotting

Molecular weight markers for proteins

Choose a protein marker that brackets the target, and keep a prestained ladder from being the only standard for apparent mass.

8 October 2026 · 8 min read