DNA Capillary Electrophoresis Using Block Copolymer as a New Separation Medium

The development of automated DNA sequencing has drawn the attention of many research groups in recent years, especially for the high-throughput demand of the Human Genome Project (1 ,2 ). Automation of DNA sequencing based on standard electrophoresis is the most commonly accepted and used approach. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) using replaceable polymer solution as a rapid separation medium with high-resolution separations can be automated relatively easily when compared with slab-gel electrophoresis. The development of capillary array electrophoresis (CAE) has further enhanced the throughput of DNA sequencing. The application of replaceable polymer solutions over permanent crosslinked gels as a separation medium made CE the best conventional analytical method at this time (3 )f because gels tend to be more difficult to handle and have limited column lifetime.