Rapid analysis of the short tandem repeat HUMTH01 by capillary electrophoresis

Using capillary electrophoresis, we demonstrate separation and analysis of the short tandem repeat HUMTH01 in under 10 min with 3 bp resolution. Separation of the PCR products, which range in size from 179 to 203 bp, is achieved using hydroxyethyl cellulose as the separation medium and a novel single-step voltage gradient. Internal standards on either side of the alleles are used to size the PCR products with an average standard deviation of 0.5 bp. DNA typing patterns obtained with this system are compared to samples separated by polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis.