Lambda DNA is used in this experiment. Lambda is a bacteriophage. It is commonly used for molecular weight, size markers in gel analysis of DNA, as well a substrate in restriction enzyme activity assays. In this lab, we cut lambda DNA with four different restriction enzymes in the appropriate buffers. This is a restriction digest .
Restriction enzymes act like scissors to cut DNA into pieces.
This usually takes about 45 minutes. During this time agarose gels will be prepared. As it cools, agarose undergoes polymerization . Higher concentrations of agarose give firmer gels. If you were inside a gel, it would resemble a very dense spider web.