Molecular biology, once only the remit of university life science laboratories, is becoming increasingly important in the curricula of secondary schools, sixth forms and colleges of further education. Electrophoresis, which underpins many molecular biology techniques, including gene cloning, is now explained to students in comprehensive detail by the electrophoresis specialists, CLEAVER SCIENTIFIC (CSL), in their newly launched educational electrophoresis kits.
The kits have been developed to introduce students to practical agarose gel electrophoresis and its theory and application in the size fractionation of DNA fragments during cloning. Different coloured electrophoretic dyes represent uncut and cleaved DNA vector and insert typically seen during cloning. The dyes, along with the battery-powered low voltage electrophoresis tank supplied, are entirely safe, and migrate much faster than DNA, allowing electrophoresis to be completed well within the time normally allotted for practical lessons.
The kits are supplied with spotting pipettes and enough dyes, agarose and buffer for five electrophoresis runs. They also include a detailed protocol to guide both the student and teacher through every step of the process from casting an agarose gel to cutting and ligating the plasmid and insert vectors, followed by theoretical sections on DNA ligation, bacterial transformation and isolation, culminating in electrophoresis. The gel tank is powered by just two PP3 batteries so is completely cost-effective as no expensive power supply is needed.
Further details on these kits are available from www.cleaverscientific.com
