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Updated: May 18, 2026

Real-time Tracking of DNA Fragment Separation by Smartphone
Published on: June 1, 2017
Millimeter scale separation of DNA with a replaceable polymer matrix
Dammika P Manage1, Duncan G Elliott, Christopher J Backhouse
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract:
Electrophoresis is a powerful method that has seen a wide range of applications, often in automated genetic diagnostic instruments that require the use of a replaceable sieving matrix. The power and simplicity of electrophoresis as an analysis technique would be ideal for highly integrated and low-cost analysis systems if the method could be implemented in microfluidics on the scale of several mm. We demonstrate the electrophoretic analysis of DNA with separation lengths as small as 2 mm and with a resolution adequate for the analysis of PCR products, i.e. resolutions of 10-20 base pairs. Such small-scale separations enable analysis systems consisting of microfluidics and microelectronics integrated into a single inexpensive package, thereby overcoming a key challenge facing the development of the lab on chip technologies.
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