A Simple Agarose Gel Staining Method to Reduce Contamination in the Laboratory and Environment

Abstract

AbstractElectrophoresis is a standard technique in separating DNA. DNA must be stained before it can be imaged for documentation. In this report, we developed an intuitive method to stain DNA in the laboratory and potentially in industry due to its simplicity. In this improved staining method, a researcher simply elevates the tray by inserting a used cell culture flask underneath the tray so that the staining solution will flow to one end and leave the other end of the tray with minimum staining liquid. Therefore, to prevent gel sliding, we improved this staining method by placing a sticker in the middle of the tray to stop the gel fromsliding down into the staining solution. This method will allow inexperienced students and also experienced scientists to use a spatula to scoop up the gel with ease and then transfer it to the destaining tray before imaging and documentation.