Gel Electrophoresis Sensor and Controller

Background:

Electrophoresis gels are widely used in biotechnology for analyzing biomolecular sample materials such as proteins and nucleic acids. Electrophoresis involves the migration of electrically charged particles in a gel solution or suspension in the presence of an applied electric field. Samples are inserted or loaded into the gel of an electrophoretic gel system (EGS) and then an electric field is applied to the gel. Each particle in the sample moves toward the electrode having an electrical charge which is opposite the sign of charge of the particle. Various materials can be separated and identified due to differences in their electrophoretic mobilities in the gel.

Technology Overview:

The technology is a controller for use with an electrophoresis apparatus having a gel matrix disposed between electrodes for separation of particles along with a tracking dye. The electrophoresis controller includes a sensor system and a controller. The sensor system includes a support, a light emitter, and a light receiver. The support includes a first portion positionable on a first side of the gel matrix and a second portion positionable adjacent to the second side of the gel matrix. The controller is operably connected to the sensor for monitoring a change in the light from the illuminated gel matrix due to migration of the tracking dye into the illuminated gel matrix and received by the light receiver. Figure 1 

Advantages:

• Reduces false positive signals caused by shadows and varying amounts of ambient light.
• Compatible with both agarose (horizontal) and polyacrylamide (vertical) gel electrophoresis systems.

Applications:

Molecular biology research laboratories: Gel electrophoresis are used to separate and identify sample material based on size, charge, and other aspects of the sample material. Biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, and protein are commonly separated using this procedure.

Intellectual Property Summary:

US9885686 US Patent, 06-Feb-2018.

Licensing Status:

The team is seeking to license this technology. It should be of interest to large laboratories, academic, corporate R&D or commercial.