What does GelRed do in gel electrophoresis?
GelRed® is a sensitive, stable and environmentally safe fluorescent nucleic acid dye designed to replace the highly toxic ethidium bromide (EtBr) for staining dsDNA, ssDNA or RNA in agarose gels or polyacrylamide gels. GelRed® has been shown to bind DNA exclusively by intercalation (1).
What is GelRed used for?
GelRed™ can be used to stain dsDNA, ssDNA or RNA in agarose gels via either precast or post gel staining or can be used to stain polyacrylamide gels via post gel staining. GelRed™ is also compatible with downstream DNA manipulations such as restriction digest, sequencing, and cloning.
Is GelRed toxic?
GelRed® and GelGreen® were designed specifically to be cell membrane impermeable, and therefore non-toxic and non-mutagenic. They are classified as non-hazardous waste under California Title 22. In addition, they offer higher sensitivity and low background compared to competing gel stains.
Does GelRed stain RNA?
GelRed® and GelGreen® can be used to stain both ssDNA and RNA, but GelRed® is about 5 times more sensitive for single-stranded nucleic acids than GelGreen®.
Is GelRed light sensitive?
Protect from light. GelRed™ is a sensitive, stable and relatively safe fluorescent nucleic acid dye designed to replace the highly toxic ethidium bromide (EB) for staining dsDNA, ssDNA or RNA in agarose gels or polyacrylamide gels. GelRed™ is far more sensitive than EB without requiring a destaining step.
How much GelRed do I add?
A 0.5 mL vial of GelRed® or GelGreen® is can be used to prepare 100 minigels (50 mL each) using the precast protocol, or for post-electrophoresis staining of 33 minigels in 50 mL staining solution per gel. Post-staining solution also can be re-used for staining two or more gels.
What effect will the GelRed have when it is added to the DNA solution?
GelRed works by intercalating with the DNA in your sample and will fluoresce when exposed to UV light. If you add the dye straight to the sample the when the GelRed binds to the DNA and like Paul says when you run it on a gel it will run slower due to the addition of the extra molecules bound to the DNA.
How do you dilute GelRed?
Post staining with GelRed™ is simple, requiring no destaining and no special buffer. Simply dilute the concentrated dye in 0.1 M NaCl or water and incubate the gel in the diluted dye solution for 30 minutes.
Is it safe to use GelRed 10, 000x in water?
GelRed™ 10,000X solution in water is the latest formulation that eliminates the hazards of handling DMSO for better safety. We also carry GelRed™ 10,000X solution in DMSO (Catalog # G-720), for the established users of GelRed™ in DMSO, who do not wish to change their laboratory protocols.
Can you use GelRed 10, 000x in DMSO?
We also carry GelRed™ 10,000X solution in DMSO (Catalog # G-720), for the established users of GelRed™ in DMSO, who do not wish to change their laboratory protocols. The performance and stability of GelRed™ 10,000X is comparable in both the water and DMSO formulations.
How can I use GelRed instead of EtBr?
GelRed™ and EtBr have virtually the same spectra, so you can directly replace EtBr with GelRed™ without changing your existing imaging system. GelRed™ can be used to stain dsDNA, ssDNA or RNA in agarose gels via either precast or post gel staining or can be used to stain polyacrylamide gels via post gel staining.
Can you use GelRed as a nucleic acid stain?
GelRed is a fluorescent nucleic acid stain designed to replace the highly toxic ethidium bromide (EtBr) for staining dsDNA, ssDNA or RNA in agarose gels or polyacrylamide gels. GelRed is a very stable dye. Store GelRed at room temperature, protected from light.