Patent ID: 7598033

Claim:
A method of transferring molecules of interest from an electrophoretic polymer gel to a MALDI target plate comprising the steps of: (i) providing an electrophoretic gel containing one or more molecules of interest; (ii) replacing water within the electrophoretic gel with a cosolvent mixture; (iii) positioning a pin over the gel and penetrating the gel with the pin; (iv) energizing the pin to deplete the gel in a region surrounding the one or more molecules of interest, causing the cosolvent mixture to surround the one or more molecules of interest; (v) lifting the pin out of the gel, the pin carrying a drop of the cosolvent mixture containing the one or more molecules of interest; and (vi) contacting a MALDI target plate with the pin, the contacting causing the drop of cosolvent mixture containing the one or more molecules of interest to be deposited on the MALDI target plate.