Slab Gel Sequencing Systems
These systems make use of ultrathin (75 μm) slab gels and involve running of atleast 96 lanes per gel, the runs being completed twice daily. In these systems, automation in sample loading of sequencing gels has also been achieved, by using 'a plexiglass block having wells that are same distance apart as the comb teeth cut in a porous membrane that is used as a comb for drawing samples by capillary action. Each well in plexiglass block is filled with a sample (PCR dideoxy-reaction mixture), so that when the porous membrane comb is lowered onto the sample wells in the plexiglass block, the samples are drawn up automatically into the comb teeth by capillary action.
Using this approach of employing porous combs, automated loading of upto 192, 384 or 480 samples per gel has been achieved. The porous comb with the samples is placed between the glass plates of the gel apparatus above the flat surface of the polymerized gel and the samples are driven from the comb into the gel by electrophoresis.


