Question

According to the sieving effect of an agarose gel matrix, which DNA fragments move the farthest and fastest from the loading wells?

Options

• Undigested circular genomic DNA fragments

• Fragments with the highest GC base content regardless of length

• Larger DNA fragments

• Smaller DNA fragments

Answer 1

The agarose gel acts like a sieve where DNA fragments separate strictly according to their size. The smaller the fragment size, the less resistance it encounters, allowing it to move faster and farther down the gel.