Overview: [Characterization of red cell membrane proteins by SDS-PAGE] [research paper]
Topics: [gel analysis] [molecular mass standard curve] [measuring relative mobility] ["Hall of Shame"]
Data: [gel images]

Failed Gels with Multiple Symptoms Multiple symptoms – example 1 Many times the gels you run will have a variety of symptoms. Since the object of a critique is to improve your work, it is important to determine what caused the undesirable effects. Then you can take steps to improve the quality of your gels. This one has no dye front - electrophoresis was terminated too late. Bands are crooked - the top of the resolving gel was uneven, most likely due to failure to use a properly overlay. On the right side, samples were overloaded. Multiple symptoms – example 2 This gel shows some field effects (curvature - lanes are not straight). There is some overloading, and some bands are crooked due to an uneven resolving gel surface. Multiple symptoms – example 3 Uneven loading (different amounts in adjacent wells) has caused some compression in the standards lane. There are tears in the gel and discoloration throughout. This indicates that it was not properly handled - handling a gel with bare hands leaves protein on the surface that stains with Coomassie. Sometimes you get very nice fingerprints.