Device built-in

Invitrogen E-Gel Power Electrophoresis System: A Revolutionary Platform for High-Efficiency Nucleic Acid Analysis

The Invitrogen E-Gel Power Electrophoresis System, from Thermo Fisher Scientific, is an innovative pre-cast gel electrophoresis platform designed for molecular biology laboratories. It fundamentally transforms the tedious and time-consuming process of traditional agarose gel electrophoresis by consolidating multiple steps—gel casting, staining, and buffer handling—into a simple, rapid, safe, and highly consistent standardized procedure. This significantly enhances experimental efficiency and result reliability, making it ideal for the rapid detection, quantification, and size analysis of routine DNA/RNA samples.

1. Core Working Principle and Design Philosophy

The system is based on pre-cast agarose gel technology. Each E-Gel is a ready-to-use, self-contained unit pre-poured with an optimal percentage of agarose, integrated with a novel, high-affinity, and high-sensitivity SYBR safe dye (such as SYBR Gold or equivalent), and pre-formed sample wells. The user simply removes the gel from its packaging, inserts it into the electrophoresis tank, loads the samples, and begins the run.

The matching E-Gel Power Electrophoresis Unit is a compact and simple-to-operate instrument. Newer models are typically paired with a PowerEase High-Power Supply (e.g., 500W or 120W models) that provides stable, precise voltage/current/power output, ensuring a fast and highly reproducible electrophoresis process. The instrument's design focuses on user experience:

• Fast Run Times: Most pre-programmed protocols complete electrophoresis in 10-20 minutes, far faster than traditional methods.

• Plug-and-Play: No need to prepare running buffer; the gel itself contains an optimized buffer system. The tank requires no additional TAE buffer, eliminating spills and contamination.

• Safety and Environmental Friendliness: Uses the non-carcinogenic SYBR safe dye instead of ethidium bromide (EtBr). Gels can be visualized under blue or white light, removing the need for UV light and protecting the user.

2. Key Technical Features and Advantages

1. Exceptional Convenience and Efficiency

   • Saves Time and Effort: Eliminates the need for weighing agarose, melting, pouring, waiting for solidification, staining, and destaining, saving several hours of preparation time.

   • Simplified Workflow: Takes only about a minute from unpacking to loading samples, drastically optimizing workflow and making it suitable for high-throughput screening.

2. Excellent Sensitivity and Resolution

   • High-Performance Dye: The integrated SYBR safe dye offers sensitivity comparable to, if not better than, EtBr, detecting nucleic acid bands as low as picogram (pg) levels.

   • Superior Band Sharpness: Pre-cast gels use high-quality agarose and proprietary processes to ensure neat wells, low background, and sharp, clear bands with high resolution, effectively distinguishing DNA fragments differing by only a few dozen base pairs.

3. Unmatched Reproducibility and Consistency

   • Product Standardization: Each gel is manufactured under strict quality control, eliminating batch-to-batch variation and human error inherent in manual gel pouring. This guarantees highly repeatable and comparable experimental results, which is critical for quantitative analysis.

4. Comprehensive Product Line Selection

   • Multiple Gel Percentages: Available in a range of agarose concentrations from 0.8% to 4%, catering to the separation of large DNA fragments (>10 kb) down to small fragments (<100 bp).

   • Various Well Configurations: Common formats include 48, 36, 22, 12, and 4 wells to meet different throughput needs. The 4-well gels are particularly suitable for quick PCR product purification.

5. Intelligent System Integration

   • When paired with a PowerEase Touchscreen Power Supply, pre-optimized protocols can be selected with one touch, automating the electrophoresis process by simply choosing the gel type and run time.

   • After electrophoresis, the gel can be easily removed and placed directly under a compatible iBright or GelDoc imaging system for documentation, enabling a seamless workflow from separation to analysis.

3. Typical Applications

• PCR Product Verification: Rapidly check PCR amplification success, specificity, and amplicon size—a routine step in molecular cloning.

• DNA Quantification: Perform semi-quantitative analysis by comparing band intensity to a DNA ladder of known concentration.

• Nucleic Acid Quality Assessment: Check the integrity of genomic DNA, RNA, or plasmid DNA and assess potential degradation.

• Restriction Enzyme Digestion Analysis: Verify complete digestion and correct fragment sizes.

• High-Throughput Clone Screening: The 48-well gels are perfect for rapidly screening a large number of colony PCR products simultaneously.

4. Summary

The Invitrogen E-Gel Power Electrophoresis System represents a significant advancement in nucleic acid electrophoresis technology. By transforming a traditionally cumbersome process into a simple "load and run" operation, it perfectly embodies the modern laboratory principles of standardization, automation, and safety. While the per-unit cost is slightly higher than that of manually cast gels, the immense savings in time and labor costs, coupled with the unparalleled result reliability, reproducibility, and operational safety it provides, make it the equipment of choice for molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and diagnostics laboratories that prioritize efficiency, accuracy, and throughput. For any researcher wishing to free themselves from the drudgery of gel preparation and focus on core scientific inquiry, the E-Gel Power system is a worthwhile investment.