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How It All Began: A Personal History of Gel Electrophoresis

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Electrophoretic Separation of Proteins

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1855))

Abstract

Arne Tiselius’ moving boundary electrophoresis method was still in general use in 1951 when this personal history begins, although zonal electrophoresis with a variety of supporting media (e.g., filter paper or starch grains) was beginning to replace it. This chapter is an account of 10 years of experiments carried out by the author during which molecular sieving gel electrophoresis was developed and common genetic variants of two proteins, haptoglobin and transferrin, were discovered in normal individuals. Most of the figures are images of pages from the author’s laboratory notebooks, which are still available, so that some of the excitement of the time and the humorous moments are perhaps apparent. Alkaline gels, acidic gels with and without denaturants, vertical gels, two-dimensional gels and gels with differences in starch concentration are presented. The subtle details that can be discerned in these various gels played an indispensable role in determining the nature of the change in the haptoglobin gene (Hp) that leads to the polymeric series characteristic of Hp 2/Hp 2 homozygotes. Where possible the names of scientific friends who made this saga of gel electrophoresis so memorable and enjoyable are gratefully included.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Oliver Smithies

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  1. Oliver Smithies
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Correspondence to Oliver Smithies .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Biji T. Kurien

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    R. Hal Scofield

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Smithies, O. (2019). How It All Began: A Personal History of Gel Electrophoresis. In: Kurien, B., Scofield, R. (eds) Electrophoretic Separation of Proteins. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1855. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8793-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8793-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8792-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8793-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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