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Samples leaking out of wells in gel - (Sep/22/2011 )

Every time I load my gel, 1 or 2 samples seem to leak out the bottom of the well and diffuses into the surrounding stacking gel below all the samples. Sometimes only a small amount leaks out, but sometimes it is nearly all of the sample. Has anyone ever had this problem or have any suggestions for how to fix it?

Thanks!

-mb524-

is it the same wells each time? if so then either a plate is warped (more likely) or your comb is uneven in thickness (less likely).

if not then you may be removing the comb too aggressively or the stacking gel is unevenly and/or incompletely polymerized or your plate is dirty.

or you are inserting your pipette tip or syringe needle too far and puncturing the bottom of the well.

-mdfenko-

Solvents such as ethanol will sometimes cause this sort of behaviour, this is fairly common for DNA/RNA extractions, but not so much for protein.

-bob1-