The innovative all-in-one system has an integrated computer with operating system and camera software, power supply, electrophoresis chamber, light-emitting diode (LED) illumination unit and a high-resolution digital camera.

A special feature of this system is the live-observation of the electrophoresis process, as the gel run can be examined in daylight directly through the orange band pass filter via the digital camera or on an additional monitor. The system called CyFox generates a high separation effect for nucleic acids fragments and shows a unique sensitivity detecting DNA below 1 ng. This is enabled by the staining of the samples with the specially developed fluorochrome mix called CySense and the use of very thin 2% agarose gels.

Quantification of both DNA and ribonucleic acid (RNA) by the uniform illumination of the gel via the LED unit gives a precise measurement of the intensity of the detected DNA/RNA obtained. Consequently, the approximate amount of the initial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sample can be determined by comparison with the digitally measured intensity of bands from control samples.

The CyFox gel electrophoresis system and CySense fluorochromes are produced by Partec (Swedesboro, NJ, USA) who also offer quality-checked, durable, ready-to-use gels in the CySep electrophoresis kit. Included in the kits are prepared buffers for sample preparation and the electrophoresis run. For special applications, gels and buffers can be manufactured individually. Suitable gel casting cassettes and compatible combs are also available.

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