User-friendly tool kits for protein gel electrophoresis techniques: A training program for high school students

Abstract

Recent advancements in biochemical sciences have helped the researchers to explore the molecular logic of life inclusive of its multifarious expressions and explain many facts about the structure and functions of cellular macromolecules. Due to its simple and cost-effective nature, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) has become the most favored technique for qualitative and quantitative examination of macromolecules. Major drawbacks of such modifications are the cost and operational complexities faced by naïve students. Many interlinking laboratory equipment are needed in the school laboratories for the conduct of even simple scientific experiment. Some of these costly modern equipment are inaccessible for students of small laboratories, and their alternatives are not easily available. Many of these laboratory equipment required for routine gel electrophoresis technique can be fabricated in their simplest form using off-the-shelf components. A short term biochemistry training program was executed for high school students to provide them “hands-on” training using newly modified equipment, which was proved to be an exciting way of learning biochemical gel separation techniques. © 2018 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 46(5):566–577, 2018.