Gel Electrophoresis Questions and Answers Graded A+

Why do gel electrophoresis? - ️️1. To determine which organisms are most closely related. 2. To determine paternity of a child. 3. For crime scene analysis. Bands - ️️A DNA ladder usually contains a set of known DNA fragments with different sizes in base pairs (bp) or kilobases (kb). These DNA fragments are separated and visualized as DNA bands on a gel. What is gel electrophoresis for? - ️️It is used to separate DNA fragments based upon size. First step in gel electrophoresis - ️️DNA is first cut using special enzymes called restriction enzymes. Second step in gel electrophoresis - ️️The DNA sample is loaded into an agarose gel. Third step in gel electrophoresis - ️️An electric charge is applied to the gel. The negatively charged DNA moves toward the positive side of the gel. Gel electrophoresis - ️️A technique used to separate segments of DNA based on their size using an electric current Wells - ️️The spaces that are loaded with DNA samples Restriction Enzyme - ️️Cuts DNA molecules at a specific base sequences (either STR or VNTR) to make smaller fragments Longer DNA fragments - ️️Move slower through the gel and end up closer to the wells. Shorter DNA fragments - ️️Move faster through the gel and end up further from the wells . DNA ladder - ️️These separated DNA bands together look like a ladder on the gel.DNA fingerprint - ️️Unique sequence of DNA base pairs that can be used to identify a person at the molecular level DNA probe - ️️a molecule labeled with a radioactive isotope, dye, or enzyme that is used to locate a particular sequence or gene on a DNA molecule