What is the Difference Between Gel and Paper Electrophoresis

The key difference between gel and paper electrophoresis is that the medium of separation in gel electrophoresis is agarose gel, whereas the medium of separation in paper electrophoresis is a paper strip immersed in a buffer solution.

Electrophoresis is an analytical technique that is useful for analyzing a sample using the electrical properties of the chemical species present in that sample. Here, we can observe the motion of the dispersed solute in the medium analyzed. Therefore, we can determine the motion of the chemical species relative to the medium. Gel electrophoresis and paper electrophoresis are two important techniques in chemistry.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Gel Electrophoresis
3. What is Paper Electrophoresis
4. Gel vs Paper Electrophoresis in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Gel vs Paper Electrophoresis

What is Gel Electrophoresis?

Gel electrophoresis can be described as a method of separation and analysis of macromolecules depending on the size and charge. Macromolecules in this context can refer to DNA, RNA, proteins, and their fragments. This method is useful in clinical chemistry for the separation of proteins by charge or size. In addition, it is important in biochemistry and molecular biology for the separation of a mixed population of DNA and RNA fragments by their length to estimate the size of DNA and RNA fragments. Besides, we can use it to separate proteins by their charge.

Gel vs Paper Electrophoresis in Tabular Form

Figure 01: Gel Electrophoresis Instrumentation

We can separate nucleic acid molecules by applying an electric field for the movement of negatively charged molecules through a matrix of agarose or other substances. In this process, shorter molecules can move faster while longer molecules move slower. This is because shorter molecules can move through the gel pores easily. We call this movement of fragments through pores “sieving.” Moreover, we usually cannot separate proteins according to their size from this method because proteins are too large to be sieved from the gel pores. However, we can use this process to separate nanoparticles.

What is Paper Electrophoresis?

Paper electrophoresis can be described as the separation using filter paper trips soaked in buffer solution. Generally, we use diethylbarbituric acid and barbituric acid dissolved in alkali as the buffer solution. The pH value of this buffer solution is pH 8.6. Moreover, we can place a small amount of serum on the paper, and a direct current is then passed through it for several hours.

Paper electrophoresis is important for the separation of small, charged molecules, including amino acids and small proteins. Here, we need to moisten a strip of filter paper with buffer and immerse the ends of the strip into buffer reservoirs that contain electrodes. The first person reported who used this method was Konig in 1937. In his findings, he introduced a paper-soaked buffer for zone electrophoresis and also suggested UV detection.

What is the Difference Between Gel and Paper Electrophoresis?

Electrophoresis is an analytical technique that is useful for analyzing a sample using the electrical properties of the chemical species present in that sample. Gel electrophoresis and paper electrophoresis are two important electrophoresis methods. The key difference between gel and paper electrophoresis is that the medium of separation in gel electrophoresis is agarose gel, whereas the medium of separation in paper electrophoresis is a paper strip immersed in a buffer solution.

Below is a summary of the difference between gel and paper electrophoresis in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Gel vs Paper Electrophoresis

Gel electrophoresis is the method of separation and analysis of macromolecules depending on the size and charge, while paper electrophoresis is the separation using filter paper trips soaked in buffer solution. The key difference between gel and paper electrophoresis is that the medium of separation in gel electrophoresis is agarose gel, whereas the medium of separation in paper electrophoresis is a paper strip immersed in a buffer solution.