This causes deformation of the wells at the sides. The tips of the teeth on a warped comb form a slightly convex line, making the problem worse. Stripping Plates To remove traces of fluorescent contaminants, some labs find it useful to treat their glass plates at regular intervals with 2M NaOH for one or two hours, followed by thorough washing and rinsing with deionized water. Overnight soaking is not recommended. Use appropriate caution when handling the strong alkali.
Some labs occasionally observe the gel swelling out of the top of the plates during electrophoresis.
The swelling is caused by electroendosmosis, due to electrostatic charge on the glass surface. In this situation, cleaning with 2M HCl is effective, followed by thorough washing and rinsing with deionized water. Red Rain One of the major causes of red rain is gel drying. Areas of the gel not covered by the heat plates can dry out and the matrix breaks down. This is predominantly seen at the laser read region.