miniPCR bio
TM
Dye Electrophoresis Lab: Molecular Rainbow - Instructor's and Student's Guide
Version: 1.0 - Release: April 2022 - © 2022 by miniPCR bio™
P./25
Instructor's Guide
Expected results
Gel electrophoresis results are expected to resemble the gel image below.
• Red Dye: a single band composed of negatively charged red molecules.
• Orange Dye: a single band composed of negatively charged orange molecules.
• Yellow Dye: a single band composed of negatively charged yellow molecules.
• Green Dye: two bands, one composed of negatively charged blue molecules and one
composed of negatively charged yellow molecules.
• Blue Dye: a single band composed of negatively charged blue molecules.
• Purple Dye: a single band composed of positively charged purple molecules.
Interpretation
Charge:
• The Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue Dyes contain negatively charges molecules.
• The Purple Dye contains positively charged molecules.
Composition:
• The Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, and Purple Dyes contain a single type of molecule.
• The Green Dye is a mixture of two types of molecules: the Blue Dye and the Yellow Dye.
Size: For simplicity, students are asked to compare the relative sizes of the dye molecules only in the
dye samples that contain negatively charged molecules. These dyes all have similar net charges, so
we can make the following conclusions:
• The blue molecules in the Blue Dye and Green Dye are the largest molecules.
• The yellow molecules in the Yellow Dye and the Green Dye are the smallest molecules.
This image represents results obtained after a 15 minute
run using a Bandit
TM
STEM electrophoresis kit.
