why is dna run on urea pages,what is the specific function of urea in the page - (Feb/08/2007 )

i am performing urea pages for my ~500BP DNA sample,i would like to know what is the function of urea in the urea page and why are they used to run dna samples.thank you

---

Urea keeps the DNA single stranded.

---

Urea is an agent of denaturation it keeps your DNA single stranded.

---

urea can disrupt the hydrogen bond, so it eliminates 2nd structure of DNA

---

thank you all,i am trying to subtype hiv-1,and am using a urea page for that,however my gel resolution is not that great any tips?

---

As far as I'm aware, there are two ways to increase resolution. You can increase the percent of acrylamide/bis-acrylamide, or you can increase the amount of bis-acrylamide alone. What ratio of acrylamide?bis are you using at present?

---