The effect of temperature oscillations on DNA sequencing by capillary electrophoresis

Although capillary electrophoresis is a powerful sequencing technology, the low heat capacity of a capillary can make difficult the precise control of its temperature, particularly when the capillary is heated to reduce compr essions in the separation of DNA sequencing fragments. In this paper, we de monstrate that minute oscillations in the capillary's temperature result in significant degradation in the number of theoretical plates, the resolutio n between adjacent peaks, and the number of bases of DNA sequence determine d from the electrophoresis data. Temperature must be held stable to within 0.1 degreesC to obtain long read lengths. A Monte Carlo simulation demonstr ates that this degradation is consistent with laminar now induced by the pe riodic thermal expansion and contraction of the separation medium.