- wear gloves, and rinse off if exposed to DNA staining reagents
- attach rubber blocks to casting tray
- place comb at one end of tray without touching the rubber blocks
- for a 0.5cm thick minigel of 0.7% agarose, mix:
• 0.21 g agarose powder
• 28 mL deionized water in a 125 mL flask.
Let powder hydrate for 1 minute
- microwave in 30-sec bursts, swirling in between until particles disappear
- swirl under cool water tap until flask just barely hand-holdable
- add 1.5 mL of 20x LB gel buffer with swirling
- slowly pour agarose into casting tray, avoiding bubbles
- let sit for ~30 minutes to solidify (quicker in refrigerator)
- gently lift comb straight up, and remove rubber blocks
- place in gel chamber, filling with 1x running buffer up to gel level (~
200 mL)
- wear gloves, and rinse off if exposed to DNA staining reagents
- place casting tray in gel chamber so rubber gaskets touch sides
- place comb at one end of tray without touching chamber side
- for a 0.5cm thick midigel of 0.7% agarose, mix:
• 0.73 g agarose powder
• 99 mL deionized water in a 250 mL flask.
Let powder hydrate for 1 minute
- microwave in 30-sec bursts, swirling in between until particles disappear
- swirl under cool water tap until flask just barely hand-holdable
- add 5 mL of 20x LB gel buffer with swirling
- slowly pour agarose into casting tray, avoiding bubbles
- let sit for ~30 minutes to solidify (quicker in refrigerator)
- gently lift lift up tray, and turn 90° so wells are near black electrode
- gently lift up comb to remove
- fill gel chamber with 1x running buffer up to gel level (~750 mL)

- wear gloves, and rinse off if exposed to DNA staining reagents
- insert rubber-gasketed end pieces into casting tray
- place comb at one end of tray without touching end piece
- for a 0.5cm thick maxigel of 0.7% agarose, mix:
• 1.75 g agarose powder
• 245 mL deionized water in a 500 mL flask. Let powder hydrate for 1 minute
- if shorter gel desired, place flat comb in desired slot. Tape down. Make proportionally less agarose
- microwave in 30-sec bursts, swirling in between until particles disappear
- swirl under cool water tap until flask just barely hand-holdable
- add the following solutions with swirling:
• 5 mL 50x TAE buffer (or 12.5 mL of 20x LB buffer)
• 6 µL Ethidium Bromide stock
- slowly pour agarose into casting tray, avoiding bubbles
- let sit for ~30 minutes to solidify (quicker in refrigerator)
- gently lift up comb, and remove end pieces
- place in gel chamber, filling with 1x running buffer up to gel level
(~1700 mL)