Microfabricated polymer chip for capillary gel electrophoresis

A polymer (PDMS: poly(dimethylsiloxane)) microchip for capillary gel electr ophoresis that can separate different sizes of DNA molecules in a small exp erimental scale is presented. This microchip can be easily produced by a si mple PDMS molding method against a microfabricated master without the use o f elaborate bonding processes. This PDMS microchip could be used as a singl e use device unlike conventional microchips made of glass, quartz or silico n. The capillary channel on the chip was partially filled with agarose gel that can enhance separation resolution of different sizes of DNA molecules and can shorten the channel length required for the separation of the sampl e compared to capillary electrophoresis in free-flow or polymer solution fo rmat. We discuss the optimal conditions for the gel preparation that could be used in the microchannel. DNA molecules were successfully driven by an e lectric field and separated to form bands in the range of 100 bp to 1 kbp i n a 2.0% agarose-filled microchannel with 8 mm of effective separation leng th.