Gel+Electrophoresis+1-2

= = **Gel Phorensics**

__Company Overview__
We are a company that is involved in the utilization of gel electrophoresis technology. This company has been in operation for around 30 years. Our company uses this technology to help investigators match and compare DNA that was found at crime scenes. Our company is working on the design of new and more efficient technology to increase the accuracy of the test. This new technology will make it easier to compare DNA samples and therefore be a better way of determining a person's innocence.

__CEO__
I am Al Harrington, the CEO of Gel Phorensics. I have been the CEO of this company for around 20 years. Genetics and the study of DNA has been my passion since high school. Another passion of mine was in forensics technology so it was just natural that these two come together in the comparisons of DNA between suspects to help solve crimes. I am hoping to pave the way for this technology and to make it easier to use for future generations.

__History of Gel Electrophoresis__

 * Theory was developed by Stellan Hjerten a Swedish professor, in the year of 1967. Where he ended up completing of the Human Genome Project which is identifying all 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA.
 * In 1983 the first paper gel capillary gel was published by Stellan Hjertan and Karger. This gave further information on high resolution to UV- Detection.
 * The first two people to present the first report of the capillary ways of electrophoresis for DNA sequencing was Razzaque A. Zagurski and Susan S. McCormick in 1990.
 * This method can be used for blood tests like at Duke University in 1998 their medical center did a sodium-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis performance and the western blotting technique for testing blood.
 * The initial discovery of gel electrophoresis was in 1807 by a physicist by the name of Ferdinand Frederic Reuss but the proteins that he was limited to were haemoglobin, myoglobin, and ferritin.
 * The inventor of gel electrophoresis was Oliver Smithies in the year of 1950 by using samples of blood or other tissues to be put on a gel made of starch or acrylamide. He called it the unique seperatory power.
 * The person credited of writing about electrophoresis in 1800 was M Bier.

__The Science Behind the Technology__
To understand Gel Electrophoresis, one must first understand Restriction Digestion. Restriction Digestion is the process that allows us to break down DNA into smaller pieces. Restriction digestion …

-The scientific name for these enzymes is Endo Nucleases (or RE’s).

-These enzymes are coded to recognize specific sequences of DNA nucleotides.

-Because enzymes are proteins, and proteins are affected by heat, they must be kept in cold conditions or they will begin to break down.

-All of the RE’s that are going to be used for gel electrophoresis should be stored on ice prior to working with them in order to ensure optimal performance.

-The Restriction Enzymes need to be mixed with the buffer that is most compatible with its type of enzyme.

-The mixture is then incubated for around an hour.

-After incubation, the mixture is removed from the incubator it is now able to be used in the cutting of DNA, which is phase two of the process which is known as Gel Electrophoresis.

Gel Electrophoresis is the process of using the cultured Restriction Enzymes that were made prior to the experiment, and using them to separate charged DNA molecules so that they can be compared. The process of testing them typically takes place in an agarose mixture. Agarose is the name given to the sugar molecules found in seaweed, and it is these molecules that are used to make the gel that is going to be in the test. These molecules dissolve in boiling water, and are then cooled, becoming gel-like, in a process known as polymerization.

Wells are made in the gel during the cooling process and the wells are loaded with the pieces of DNA that were cut during phase one. An electric charge is now made to run throughout the gel causes the samples to "sink" down into the gel because one of currents of the electrode closest to the wells is the same charge as the molecules, which causes the molecules to repel and move away from it. While at the same time the other electrode, being of a different charge attracts the molecules and draws them down, causing the "sinking" effect. As the molecules are drawn downward they separate due to certain factors such as the size and shape of the molecule. The banding patterns of the different molecules can now be compared and that is the purpose of the science behind Gel Electrophoresis technology.

An example of an apparatus that could be used.

An illuminated example of the banding patterns.

__Current uses__
Gel Electrophoresis is used for separating biological materials such as proteins, amino acids and nucleic acids. This helps the doctors diagnose diseases. They use gel electrophoresis to help genetic information a huge wide range of data from the human’s DNA. Gel Electrophoresis can separate DNA fragments. They can separate different sized molecules by using an electric current. It also has RNA contains RNA Gel Electrophoresis separate DNA fragments by letting the DNA go across it, the DNA has a backbone that is slightly negative then the DNA is placed in wells, then later on it goes to the positive charged anode. DNA has different lengths the larger strands will move slower, and then shorter strands will move a quite bit faster, then DNA is then separated by its length, size and weight. Gel Electrophoresis Helps doctor’s diagnose diseases. If fragments are found only humans who have the disease, it suggests that if the fragments who contain the DNA which contains a gene variant, this might mean a person is more likely to getting the susceptible to the disease. This shows that most diseases have a genetic compound which is caused by variations of more than one gene regions. The Gel electrophoresis uses the electric current to move particles by using the electric force. The electric force carries out molecules by a better conductive buffer solution. The proteins and the nucleic acid go through the electrical experience then the force ends up going to the effective charge side. They have a bio molecule that moves by a constant velocity rate because the electric force that is on the molecule is might on the opposite force.

__Future uses__
Using the method of gel electrophoresis, Gel Phorensics has solved thousands of crimes in our 30 years of production. By obtaining tissue or body fluid from the crime scene, such as cheek cells, blood, skin, hair and semen, experts at Gel Phorensics are able to convict criminals of a variety of crimes. We are now heading towards solving cold cases from decades ago and convicting criminals that could still be living among us. Using this technology, we also plan on solving paternity cases and diagnose diseases as well. We are very close to starting our own Gel Phorensics ‘hospital’ to do just that. Also in the future, we could possibly determine the genetic similarities between populations and individuals to add to our human understanding. Gel Phorensics is heading towards great progress in the DNA forensics field.

__References__
"Answers.com - Why Does DNA Seperate in Agarose Gel in Electrophoresis." //WikiAnswers - The Q&A Wiki//. Web. December 21, 2010. . “Biology Animation Library: Gel Electrophoresis.” Dnalc.org Dolan DNA Learning Center, n.d. Web. December 22, 2010. http://www.dnalc.org/resources/animations/gelelectrophoresis.html Chalco, James. “Gel Electrophoresis.” Hunter College. //r// tfw.james.googlepages.com n.d. Powerpoint. December 22, 2010. //r// tfw.james.googlepages.com/James_**Gel** Electro_Spring07.ppt "Chapter 4: Electrophoresis - Introduction." //Personal Websites//. Web.December 22, 2010. . “Electrophoresis – Electrophoretic Theory, Methodology and Applications, Gel Electrophoresis, Gel Electrophoresis of DNA, Gel Electrophoresis of Proteins.” Science.jrank.org Science Encyclopedia. Web. December 20, 2010. http://science.jrank.org/pages/2392/Electrophoresis.html

“Gel Electrophoresis.” Colorado.edu Colorado University. n.d. Web. December 20, 2010. < http://www.colorado.edu/outreach/BSI/pdfs/gel_electrophoresis.pdf > "Gel Electrophoresis Can Be Used to Find Genes Associated with a Disease | Biotech Learning Hub." //Home | Biotech Learning Hub//. Web. December 21, 2010. . “Gel Electrophoresis Virtual Lab.” Learn.genetics.utah.edu University of Utah, 2010. Web. December 21, 2010. http://learngenetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/ Hjerten, Stellen. “The Analyst profiles Professor Stellan Hjerten.” www.rsc.org. Uppsala University. 2003. Web. December 20, 2010. [] []"   []

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