Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am trying to do the gel electrophoresis chamber experiment. I have tried 3 times and every time the chamber bubbles and turns brown. Any idea why this is happening? I am thinking it could be my wire (I'm not 100% it's stainless steel) or the water, I"m using distilled.
Thanks so much,
Ben Groth

Hi Ben and welcome to Scibuddies.

I will need a few more details of your procedure before I can make any guesses about what the cause of your problems is. My initial feeling is that either there is something wrong with the electrophoresis buffer or you are using too high a voltage, or maybe AC instead of DC. Bubbles on the electrodes would be an indication of electrolysis and the brown color sounds like it is probably coming from the electrodes as you suggested. I would look online for some nichrome wire which is often used for electrodes. Platinum is the best choice but it is way too expensive. I would not use stainless steel.

Tell me more about your setup and power supply and I will try to come up with a solution to your problem.

Scibee

I am doing the gel electrophoresis chamber here on science buddies.
Here is the link.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure
I am pretty sure i followed the directions exactly.

OK. Did the colored dyes move when you connected the batteries to the electrodes? It sounds like you did everything correctly with maybe the exception of the electrodes. I would try a different metal for the electrodes. You can order nichrome, or if you have an old toaster that doesn't work, you could take it apart and get a couple of pieces of the filament wire to use as electrodes. If the solution still turns brown then you know it's not the electrodes but something in the solution itself.

Sybee

OK thank you