Gel electrophoresis of nucleic acids
Okay, kiddo, imagine you have a big bag of colored balls. Some of these balls are red, some are blue, and others are green. You want to separate all of the different colors so you can count how many balls of each color you have.
Now, imagine that the balls are really tiny pieces of DNA or RNA, which are special molecules that make up your genetic code. We need to separate the different pieces of DNA or RNA so we can learn more about them.
This is where gel electrophoresis comes in! We take our bag of DNA or RNA pieces and mix them with a special liquid that will help them move through a gel, which is kind of like a squishy block of JELL-O but without the yummy flavors.
The gel has tiny holes throughout it, like a sponge. When you put an electric current through the gel, the tiny pieces of DNA or RNA will move through the holes at different speeds based on their size and charge.
The gel acts like a filter, separating the DNA or RNA pieces into different bands based on their size. It's kind of like if you had a bunch of different sized rocks and poured them through a strainer - the small ones would fall through first, followed by the larger ones.
Once we've separated the DNA or RNA pieces, we can use special dyes or chemicals to stain them and make them visible. Now we can count how many pieces of DNA or RNA of each size we have, and learn more about what they do and how they impact our bodies.
So that's gel electrophoresis! It's like separating different colored balls in JELL-O so we can count them and learn more about what they do.
Now, imagine that the balls are really tiny pieces of DNA or RNA, which are special molecules that make up your genetic code. We need to separate the different pieces of DNA or RNA so we can learn more about them.
This is where gel electrophoresis comes in! We take our bag of DNA or RNA pieces and mix them with a special liquid that will help them move through a gel, which is kind of like a squishy block of JELL-O but without the yummy flavors.
The gel has tiny holes throughout it, like a sponge. When you put an electric current through the gel, the tiny pieces of DNA or RNA will move through the holes at different speeds based on their size and charge.
The gel acts like a filter, separating the DNA or RNA pieces into different bands based on their size. It's kind of like if you had a bunch of different sized rocks and poured them through a strainer - the small ones would fall through first, followed by the larger ones.
Once we've separated the DNA or RNA pieces, we can use special dyes or chemicals to stain them and make them visible. Now we can count how many pieces of DNA or RNA of each size we have, and learn more about what they do and how they impact our bodies.
So that's gel electrophoresis! It's like separating different colored balls in JELL-O so we can count them and learn more about what they do.