Electropherogram

An electropherogram is like a graph that shows the size of things called DNA or RNA. DNA and RNA are made up of tiny building blocks called nucleotides, and these blocks can come in different sizes. In order to figure out what the size of the DNA or RNA is, scientists put it in a special gel and zap it with electricity. This electricity makes the different sizes of nucleotides move through the gel at different speeds. The electropherogram shows how far each size of nucleotide moved, so scientists can figure out what size they are. Almost like counting your friends by height in a line! Scientists then use this information to learn about different things, like how the nucleotides are arranged, or which specific genes are present.