Electrophoresis is both a concept and technique used in many scienfic disciplines:

Physics

• Electrophoresis, the method of moving charged particles through a medium by using an electric field induced by electrodes. It is also used to separate molecules with different physical characteristics using electrical charges.

Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

• Capillary electrophoresis, commonly used to separate biomolecules by their charge and frictional forces.
• Gel electrophoresis, a technique used by scientists to separate molecules based on physical characteristics such as size, shape, or isoelectric point. It can be used as a preparative technique to partially purify molecules prior to use of other methods such as mass spectrometry, PCR, cloning, DNA sequencing, or immuno-blotting for further characterization. Examples of specific techniques include:
  • DNA electrophoresis, a specific type of gel electrophoresis used to analyse DNA.
  • Protein electrophoresis, a specific type of gel electrophoresis used to analyse proteins.
  • Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, a specific type of gel electrophoresis commonly used to analyze proteins which involves two separation mechanisms to separate molecules.
  • SDS PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, commonly used to analyse proteins.

Medicine

• Iontophoresis, a way of rapidly administering drugs through the skin which is quicker than traditional transdermal drug administration methods. One such drug is iontocaine, a local anesthetic used to numb the skin before a painful injection.

Electrophoresis | Laboratory techniques

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