Agarose gel electrophoresis is one of the cornerstones of modern molecular biology laboratories. Now, incorporating electrophoresis into your laboratory is easier than ever thanks to the EDGE™ Integrated Electrophoresis System! The Edvotek® EDGE™ combines an electrophoresis apparatus, power supply, and blue light transilluminator into a single, user-friendly unit. Each EDGE™ Includes:
(1) EDGE™ base unit with integrated 100V and 150V power supply, hinged lid, and blue light transilluminator.
(2) EDGE™ buffer tank with stainless steel and platinum electrodes.
(3) EDGE™ accessories: 10 x 7 cm gel tray, two dual-sided combs (6- and 8-well) and two casting endcaps.
The EDGE™ has been designed for safety and convenience. A hinged lid and dual safety cutoff switches help to prevent improper use and minimize the risk of electric shock. The blue light transilluminator allows users to monitor DNA migration throughout the experiment using SYBR® Safe or similar stains, without the hazards associated with UV light.
Running a gel in the EDGE™ is quick and easy, and results can be ready to view in as little as 10 minutes! Every experiment starts with preparing an agarose gel – combine agarose and electrophoresis buffer, following the recipe in your experiment, and heat to dissolve. After briefly cooling the agarose solution, add SYBR® Safe stain and gently swirl to mix. The agarose is then poured into an electrophoresis tray and allowed to set. This entire process, from start to solidified gel, takes approximately 20 minutes and gels can also be prepared ahead of time and stored until needed (for more info see our post here).
Once solidified, the gels are added to the EDGE™ electrophoresis chamber and covered with 1x electrophoresis buffer. Samples are then carefully pipetted into each well of the gel, taking care to not poke into the agarose with the pipette tip.
And just like that, the gels are ready to run! The EDGE™ can run experiments at 100V or 150V, and features an integrated timer to ensure that the DNA samples will not run off the ends of the gel. Simply close the lid, select the appropriate voltage, and hit “start”. Bubbles forming on the electrodes will indicate that electrophoresis has begun, and students can monitor the migration of DNA bands in real-time by turning on the blue light transilluminator. The DNA bands will migrate through the agarose gel, resulting in discrete bands (learn all about electrophoresis here).
The EDGE™ Integrated Electrophoresis System is available to order now on our website. All Edvotek® and PLTW® experiments can be run without modification, including the all new EdvoKit #100 – MyLab™ Electrophoresis Sampler. Our newest experiment, EdvoKit #100 contains enough electrophoresis reagents and DNA samples to run four of our most popular ready-to-load experiments. The experiment contains scenarios that explore forensic, medical, and scientific investigations and is a perfect match for the EDGE™!
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