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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
On-chip Isotachophoresis for Separation of Ions and Purification of Nucleic Acids
Published on: March 2, 2012
Miniaturised isotachophoresis of DNA
Jeff E Prest1, Sara J Baldock, Philip J R Day
1School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. j.prest@manchester.ac.uk
Abstract:
This paper presents the findings of a feasibility study investigating the behaviour of DNA under conditions of miniaturised isotachophoresis. An electrolyte system comprising a leading electrolyte of 5mM perchloric acid at pH 6.0 and a terminating electrolyte of 10mM gallic acid was devised and used to perform isotachophoresis of DNA containing samples on a miniaturised poly(methyl methacrylate) device. Under such conditions it was found that no separation of DNA fragments was observed with the substance migrating instead as a single isotachophoretic zone. Whilst such a result shows the method is unsuitable for analysis DNA it offers significant potential as a means of sample preparation for subsequent analysis using another method. This is because the single zone of DNA formed is preconcentrated to a constant concentration governed by the leading ion and is separated from all species with different effective electrophoretic mobilities.
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