Gel electrophoresis is one of the most widely used analytical techniques in molecular biology and genetics. Typically the separation requires several hours and the gel is then removed and analyzed for the location of the different molecular groups of the surface area of the gel. When used with radioisotopes as labels, the standard practice is to remove the gel and use it to expose film over 24-48 hours. This is very labor intensive, time consuming and subject to many forms of error. An alternative way to approach the problem is devise a system which would read both the amount of activity and the ultimate location of the molecular groups as the separation is taking place. By obtaining a real time output as the gel is running, the operator would be able to follow the progress of the separation and obtain extremely timely results. We propose to determine the feasibility of using such a real time measuring system for gel electrophoresis of radiolabelled macromolecules. Our preliminary experiments indicate that such a system should be successful and lead to a significant increase in the data flow from this important analytical technique.
