Building Value in Your Electrophoresis Units
Charlotte Mulvihill, Donald Bell

The Biotechnology/Bioinformatics Discovery Project recommends several laboratory experiences that use electrophoresis chambers especially if you have variable power supplies to teach basic science concepts; our web site (click on modules) has full details with protocols: www.occc.edu/BBDiscovery

1. Demystifying Electrophoresis:  students explore conductivity, electrical currents, pH, oxidation-reduction reactions, molecular size and charge, and run a gel with dyes to demonstrate separation methods.  Can use in biology, chemistry, physics, physical science. http://www.occc.edu/BBDiscovery/documents/demystifyelectrophoresis.htm

2. DNA Patterns:  the classic AP biology lab where DNA fragments sort out according to size on the gel.  Our version uses DNA cut with restriction enzymes from either a plasmid or from bacteriophage Lambda. www.occc.edu/BBDiscovery/documents/Modules/DNA_patterns_advanced.htm

3. Seafood Forensics: uses an SDS-agarose gel to separate proteins (extracts from real and fake crabmeat) – has a forensics story to engage students.  Use in biology at various levels. From the Shoestring Biotech project.  http://www.occc.edu/BBDiscovery/documents/Modules/SFF.pdf

4. Ohm’s Law:  uses gel boxes with power supply with adjustable voltage and also shows current in milliamps .  Students graph data to explore relationships between current and NaCl concentration, between current and potential, current and conductivity, current and resistance, to arrive at Ohm’s law.  Use in physics, physical science classes. Developed by the Gene Connection Project: http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/geneconn/ohmslaw/

5. Salt Solutions to Explore Concentrations:  this is a great inquiry exercise, where students collect data on the conductivity of various salt solutions and formulate hypotheses about observed differences. Need gel boxes with variable power supply, one power supply per chamber. This is a MUST for chemistry classes to develop understanding of the mole concept.  Also developed by the Gene Connection Project: www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/geneconn/salt/
   
   
6. Diagnosing Sickle Cell Trait/Disease: within the context of the larger sickle cell module, students run a gel to determine whether lab samples contain normal or sickle cell hemoglobin.
   http://www.occc.edu/BBdiscovery/documents/Modules/SCA_lab.html
   

Reference:  Making the Most of Your Electrophoresis Units, C. Mulvihill, The Science Teacher, October, 2007.
Lab prep details can be found on our mock biotech web site: www.occc.edu/mockbiotech