ELECTROPHORESIS MACHINE 4

BRIEF HISTORY OF ELECTROPHORESIS MACHINES
Early electrophoresis was carried out for most part by free movement of ions in solution in which the moving ion formed a boundary which was defeated by measuring charges in the refractive index throughout the solution, this was developed to a high degree by Tiselius in about 1937, was expensive due to high cost of optical equipment need and apparatus and complex optical system needed.

Electrophoresis can be carried out in system whereby the solution containing the ions to be separated is supported in a medium such as paper, starch, agar or cellulose acetate. This type of electrophoresis is then known as zone electrophoresis.
Paper electrophoresis generally requires up to 18 hours to provide declaratively diffuse separations with variable degrees of absorption. Besides diffuse separation bands, these are also variable degrees of absorption in the paper and therefore it can be difficult to make transparent. This form of electrophoresis is now rarely used in clinical laboratories.



In 1955, Smithies introduced a major development in electrophoresis by using remarkable resolving powers of starch gel electrophoresis. This electrophoresis often requires about 18 hour to provide relatively diffuse separation. Since the medium is not inert it exhibits a molecular serving as well as electrophoresis effects.

This can increase the number of serum protein bands from fewer than ten to more than 20 and unless exermined byu an experienced workers, the resulting patterns can be very difficult to interpret.
In 1957, Koliu Introduced cellulose acetate, since when it has become a widely used support medium in clinical laboratories. This medium requires fewer samples than paper and higher voltages can be used, resulting in quicker separation times and increase resolution.

Different electrophoresis machine are in use today and the most common is the ABI which has gone through several technological innovations and advancement giving rise to AB1, 377, AB1, 378, ABI 373 and ABI 3700. (4) And the latest is AB13700 Automatic sequencer precision machine.