>I'm fairly new to automated sequencing and I just ran out of Permacel
>tape for taping my 373 Stretch Plates. I looked through every catalog
>imaginable trying to find the stuff, consulted with the old ADS
>(automated DNA sequencer--person, that is), and she told me that we buy
>it from ABI. So, you guessed it. I called ABI and was told that it
>costs $79.00/roll!! I felt that I was being had at the time but ordered
>one roll to tide me over. When it arrived, instead of saying Permacel
>tape it said "3M electrical tape." The roll was still yellow but the
>color was slightly different. Anyway, a few relevant questions to you
>professional sequencers:
> 1.Can anyone tell me precisely how to pour the plates without tape?
> I watched someone do it with some 34cm wtr plates but when I tried
> to do it with some 48cm wtr plates it was a disaster. I used an
> automatic pipettor and the stuff never went into the plates. When
> I slightly angled the plate upwards the stuff went in, but promptly
> went out of the bottom of the plates!
>Thanks for your help!
>>Patricia Thomas
>Washington Univ. School of Med.
>Dept. of Molecular Bio. & Pharm.
>thomas at pharmdec.wustl.edu
We pour our gels without using any tape. First lay your bottom plate
horizontally on a level surface. Place your spacers on the plate and use a
few drops of water on the spacers to hold them in place. Pour your
acrylamide mix onto the plate near the bottom edge. Catch the edge of the
pool of acrylamide mix with the bottom edge of the top plate and slowly
lower the top plate onto the bottom plate. If you go slowly, any potential
air bubbles will stay at the front edge of the acrylamide mixture. Once the
top plate is completely in contact with the bottom plate/acrylamide mix,
clamp the sides, add the sharks tooth comb and clamp the comb. After one
practice run, this should be pretty easy. It's easier to see what your
doing on a dark bench top.
Laura Cox
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Laura Cox, Ph.D.
Department of Genetics
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
7620 NW Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78227-5301
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