PATHOLOGY

PATHOLOGY MCQ

GENETICS AND DISEASE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
One function of gel electrophoresis is to
A
separate DNA fragments
B
cut DNA
C
recombine DNA
D
extract DNA
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -To separate DNA using agarose gel electrophoresis, the DNA is loaded into pre-cast wells in the gel and a current applied. The phosphate backbone of the DNA (and RNA) molecule is negatively charged, therefore when placed in an electric field, DNA fragments will migrate to the positively charged anode.

Detailed explanation-2: -Gel electrophoresis and DNA DNA is negatively charged, therefore, when an electric current is applied to the gel, DNA will migrate towards the positively charged electrode. Shorter strands of DNA move more quickly through the gel than longer strands resulting in the fragments being arranged in order of size.

Detailed explanation-3: -Gel electrophoresis is a laboratory method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA, or proteins according to molecular size.

Detailed explanation-4: -It is used in clinical chemistry to separate proteins by charge or size (IEF agarose, essentially size independent) and in biochemistry and molecular biology to separate a mixed population of DNA and RNA fragments by length, to estimate the size of DNA and RNA fragments or to separate proteins by charge.

There is 1 question to complete.