In this activity, students use agarose gel electrophoresis to determine the composition of different biological dyes.
Students learn how molecules can be separated and identified by electrophoresis.
If you do not have a variety of biological dyes available, you can prepare a simpler version of this experiment that uses food color. The high temperature keeps the agarose liquified. While the agarose is solidifying in the gel tray, the students can practice using the micropipet with the practice dye. After the gel is solidified and 1X TBE is added to the electrophoresis unit, students can practice loading the gels with the practice samples. If the students want the gels, wrap them in plastic wrap.