Week 12 - December 2, 2022
Tuesday, November 29, 2022 I learned how to make a gel. This was my first time ever working with gels and seeing how they were made. I was asked to make a 0.8% gel to help out another group. I poured 30 ml of 1X TAE into a 125ml flask. I then weighed out 0.25 grams of agarose and put it into the flask. A cork was made out of paper towels until it fit snugly into the flask. The solution was then put in the microwave at 30-second intervals. After the first 30 seconds, I took it out and swirled it before putting it back in for another 10 seconds. This time, the solution was boiling so I swirled it around one more time before setting it down to cool. As it cooled, I was shown how to set up the electrophoresis chamber. The flask cooled for about 5 minutes. Once the baby bottle test was performed and the flask was warm but cool enough to be handled without a glove, I poured the solution into the chamber. The gel was then left to solidify.