Patent ID: 6902657

Claim:
A method for electrophoretic separation of a mixture of oligonucleotide fragments, wherein said mixture contains at least two fragments of different lengths and said lengths are between 0 and 100 bases the steps of the method comprising; a) filling at least one microchannel with a separation media, said separation media including non-entangled polyvinylpyrrolidone using pressure loading at a pressure not greater than 100 psi; b) injecting the mixture of oligonucleotide fragments into a first end of said microchannel; c) applying through said separation media an electrophoretic current sufficient to cause said oligonucleotide fragments to migrate through said separation media; wherein an interaction between said separation media and said fragments retards the migration of said fragments, wherein smaller fragments are retarded to a greater degree than larger fragments; d) detecting separated oligonucleotide fragments at a detection location in said microchannel removed from said injection end of said microchannel.