PRECAST GELS: AN EXPERIMENTAL ADVANCE IN DNA SEQUENCING

WHILE IDENTIFICATION OF THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID (DNA) IS CRITICAL FOR THE ANALYSIS ANDUNDERSTANDING OF GENETIC INFORMATION, THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS UNDERTAKING IS LIMITED BY THE EXPERIMENTAL ADVANCES THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. THE IMPORTANCE OF DECODING THE HUMAN GENOME IS WELL KNOWN. DETERMINATION OF THE NUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCE IN DNA IS AN EXTRAORDINARY TASK CONSIDERING THE LARGE NUMBER OF NUCLEOTIDE UNITS FOUND IN EVEN THE SMALLEST DNA MOLECULE. AHIGHLY REPRODUCIBLE, READILY AVAILABLE VEHICLE FOR ELECTROPHORETIC SEPARATION OF THE NUCLEOTIDE BASES IN DNA ISESSENTIAL IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT IN THIS AREA OF RESEARCH. COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PRECAST GELS FOR SEQUENCING, ONCE CONSIDERED A LUXURY, HAVE BECOME A NECESSITY FOR THE RESEARCHER. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO DEVELOP A PRECAST DNA SEQUENCING GEL AND A PROCESS FOR POURING THE GELS AND TO TEST THE GELS IN A UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LABORATORY. PHASE IIOF THIS PROJECT WILL INVOLVE QUALITY TESTING AND ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS OF PRODUCTION SCALE-UP WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF SUPPLYING A HIGH-QUALITY AND ECONOMICAL COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE GEL COMPATIBLE WITH CURRENTLY AVAILABLE DNA SEQUENCERS.