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Why my gels wouldn't set?

By Rosie Redfield on Monday, May 14, 2012

This is the expiry date on my bottle of TEMED (the catalyst for acrylamide polymerization).

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 10:44 AM

    Make sure your APS hasn't gone to hell either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rosie RedfieldMay 15, 2012 at 10:57 AM

    I make the APS (ammonium persulfate) fresh, mainly because that's what I was taught and I don't know enough about the chemistry to decide how long it would keep at room temperature or frozen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TylerMay 15, 2012 at 4:40 PM

    LOL. This happened to me in the Summer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 15, 2012 at 6:41 PM

    @Rosie: 10% APS can hang out for up to three months at 4 degrees. But dry APS can go off too. Keep it in a dessicator if you don't already - once it starts looking wet, it's done.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thomas BarendsMay 16, 2012 at 1:48 AM

    Ah yes, casting gels for the first time after years. I tried that recently, using a recipe my grad student gave me. I was too daft to realize that he uses a far more dilute APS solution than I always make. My gels set the moment I tried to pour them. Luckily it was late, so only about ten people saw me...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Grad StudentMay 16, 2012 at 11:59 PM

    I make 10 % APS solutions (10 ml) and make 1 ml aliquotes and store at -20C. Keep the thawed tube at 4C till it get used up. This works great for me. What is the recipe for your gel? I use the Sambrook recipe and it works fine.

    ReplyDelete

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