lately i've been running alot of bad gels. It seems i can't run a gel for some reason and i'm pretty embarrassed.
the bands are all smeared and sometimes bands come out jaggedy as well.
I'm pretty careful to visually check to see that there are no particulates still undesolved in the agarose solution as it comes out of the microwave.
i typically don't wait that long before pipetting in ethidium bromide and pour the gel right away.
i've been letting the gel cool in refrigerator.
my question is whether quick cooling causes the smearing? do i always have to let it cool down gently at room temp? is that my problem?
is there a fundamental difference in terms of the polymerization and microscopic structure of the gel when it's left to cool slowly at RT rather than quickly cooled in refrig or even freezer?
Edited by whoknows, 21 October 2009 - 02:26 AM.