In 1982, immobilized pH gradients (IPGs) were introduced, resulting in
an increase in resolution by one order of magnitude compared with con
ventional isoelectric focusing (IEF) [1, 2]. By 1980, it was apparent
to many IEF users that there were some inherent problems with the tech
nique, which had not been corrected in more than 20 years of practice
and were not likely to be solved.