Surfactants and Gel Electrophoresis

In the biological sciences, gel electrophoresis is an important technique for protein purification and identification. The goal of the technique is to investigate the different protein fractions present in a solution and is used throughout the biochemical sciences as an important step in protein purification. 

To carry out the technique, protein molecules are denatured and move through a polyacrylamide gel by electrophoresis to be sorted by molecular mass. Proteins with the highest molecular mass move through the gel more slowly under the influence of the applied electric field, but because different proteins have a variety of different shapes and charge distributions, the experiment must be carefully designed so that these factors do not affect the rate of displacement, and that mass is really the only parameter influencing migration rate. 

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