A Smarter, Faster Way to Perform Gel Electrophoresis

While traditional gel electrophoresis remains foundational in molecular biology, its slow, labor-intensive workflow no longer meets the speed and flexibility required in today’s labs. Motivated by the need for faster, more convenient analysis, scientists developed the FlashGel^® System—a ready-to-use solution that significantly reduces hands-on time and delivers results in minutes.

In this Innovation Spotlight, Hugh White from Lonza discusses the system’s advantages, including its precast, optimized gels, and highlights recent updates that introduce greater versatility and extend the gels’ shelf life.

In what ways is traditional agarose gel electrophoresis lacking?

Traditional agarose gel electrophoresis, while reliable and widely used, presents several practical challenges that can hinder efficiency in the lab. First and foremost, it’s quite labor-intensive. Preparing the gel requires multiple manual steps, such as measuring and dissolving agarose, heating, cooling, and casting, which can take upwards of 30 minutes before any actual analysis begins. Additionally, users must prepare and handle running buffers, load samples carefully, and monitor the electrophoresis process, which itself can take 45 minutes to several hours depending on the conditions.

In short, traditional electrophoresis demands significant hands-on time, introduces variability, and slows down the pace of molecular analysis.

What motivated you to develop an improved gel electrophoresis system?

The motivation behind developing an improved gel electrophoresis system stemmed from a clear and growing need in the lab: researchers were asking for faster, more convenient, and higher-sensitivity nucleic acid separations. Traditional electrophoresis methods, while dependable, were simply too slow and cumbersome for modern workflows. We saw scientists spending hours preparing gels and buffers, and running lengthy separations, time that could be better spent analyzing results or advancing their experiments. Our goal was to develop a solution that not only accelerated the workflow but also made it more user-friendly.

How does the FlashGel^® System work, and what workflow improvements can researchers expect when using this system?

The FlashGel^® System was designed to improve the way researchers perform nucleic acid separations. Unlike traditional gel electrophoresis, the FlashGel^® System offers a ready-to-use format that reduces hands-on time and total workflow duration.

First of all, the system eliminates the need for gel preparation thanks to precast electrophoresis cassettes that are ready to use straight out of the box. This alone saves considerable time and reduces variability between runs. These gels are paired with a set of practical accessories, such as a built-in buffer container, and a specialized running buffer composition that allows users to complete testing in as little as 5 minutes, with real-time visualization of results starting in just 2 minutes. This is a major leap forward in speed and convenience, and this immediate feedback allows for faster decision-making and quicker troubleshooting, which is especially valuable in time-sensitive experiments.

Another major advantage is its high sensitivity: the system requires less sample input while still delivering clear, reliable results. The system also eliminates the need for post-run staining and UV exposure, making it a safer alternative for the scientist.

Finally, documentation is instant and sample recovery is possible directly from the cassette, which helps enable smooth downstream applications. Moreover, FlashGel^® FLX Cassettes avoid UV-induced damage to recovered nucleic acids.

Overall, it’s a smarter, faster, and safer way to run nucleic acid separations, designed to keep pace with modern research demands.

What advancements have you implemented with the new FlashGel^® FLX Cassettes?

One limitation of the original system was the shelf life of the FlashGel^® Cassettes. That’s where the idea for the FlashGel^® FLX Cassettes began to take shape. One of the major advancements was separating the fluorescent stain from the gel itself. In the original system, the stain was embedded in the gel, which limited shelf life. With the FLX system, we fill the cassettes with gel and buffer without the stain, and instead, the specialized FlashGel^® FLX Prestain Loading Buffer contains the fluorescent dye. This change significantly increases the product’s stability and allows users to stock cassettes for longer periods without compromising performance.

We also wanted to make the system more versatile. Traditional gels often require different formulations for DNA and RNA separations. With the FLX Cassettes, we created a single gel formulation that supports both DNA and RNA, giving researchers greater flexibility and reducing the need to manage multiple types of gels.

These improvements maintain the speed and sensitivity of the original FlashGel^® System while making it more practical and adaptable for everyday lab use. It’s a great example of how small changes in formulation and workflow design can lead to big gains in usability.

In which life science applications will this system have the greatest impact?

The FlashGel^® System has the potential to make a real impact across a wide range of routine molecular biology applications, particularly where speed and clarity are essential. One of its most valuable uses is for quick checks of plasmid DNA preparations, whether a scientist is verifying the absence of RNA or genomic DNA contamination, or confirming plasmid identity through restriction digestion. These are tasks that typically slow down workflows, and the FlashGel^® System makes them fast and straightforward.

It’s also ideal for PCR product verification, allowing researchers to quickly assess amplification success before moving on to downstream steps. Similarly, the system is well-suited for checking T7 endonuclease cleavage reactions used for evaluating the activity of CRISPR-Cas9, as well as analyzing restriction enzyme digests, and assessing general enzyme activity, where rapid feedback is crucial.

Importantly, the system supports RNA sample analysis, helping researchers assess both quantity and integrity for transcriptomics and gene expression studies. Because the same cassette can be used for both DNA and RNA, labs gain flexibility without needing separate setups.

The FlashGel^® System shines in any application where researchers need fast, sensitive, and reliable nucleic acid analysis, so it is a valuable tool for both routine checks and time-sensitive experiments.

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