Electrophoresis is a very broadly used technique that, fundamentally, applies electric current to biological molecules – they’re usually DNA, but they can be protein or RNA, too – and separates these fragments into pieces that are larger or smaller in size.
The phenomenon of electrophoresis was first observed by Russian professors Peter Ivanovich Strakhov and Ferdinand Frederic Reuss in 1807 at Moscow University. A constant application of electric field caused the particles of clay dispersed in water to migrate, showing an electrokinetic phenomenon.
Electrophoresis can be defined as an electrokinetic process that separates charged particles in a fluid using an electrical field of charge. Electrophoresis of cations or positively charged ions is sometimes referred to as cataphoresis (or cataphoretic electrophoresis). In contrast, sometimes, the electrophoresis of anions or negatively charged ions is referred to as anaphoresis (or anaphoric electrophoresis).
It’s used in a variety of applications. Though it is most often used in life sciences to separate protein molecules or DNA, it can be achieved through several different techniques and methods depending upon the type and size of the molecules.
