An agarose is a polysaccharide polymer material, generally extracted from seaweed. The molecules are extremely water-soluble due to their large number of hydroxyl groups, and the solutions tend to be low-melting point aqueous gels. Sheets of agarose gels are readily prepared by pouring the warm, liquid solution into a mould, and are frequently used in molecular biology for the separation of large molecules by electrophoresis. A wide range of different agaroses, of varying molecular weights and properties are commercially available for this purpose. Jump to: navigation, search Polysaccharides (sometimes called glycans) are relatively complex carbohydrates. ... Jump to: navigation, search A polymer is a generic term used to describe a substantially long molecule. ... Jump to: navigation, search Seaweed covered rocks in the UK Phycologists consider seaweed to refer any of a large number of marine benthic algae that are multicellular, macrothallic (large-bodied), and thus differentiated from most algae that tend towards microscopic size (Smith, 1944). ... A gel (from the lat. ... Jump to: navigation, search Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ... Jump to: navigation, search Digital printout of an agarose gel electrophoresis of cat-insert plasmid DNA Agarose gel electrophoresis is a method used in molecular biology to separate DNA strands by size, and to determine the size of the separated strands by comparison to strands of known length. ...

See also: Agar Jump to: navigation, search Agar is a galactose polymer (or agarose) obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae or seaweed (Sphaerococcus euchema) and species of Gelidium, chiefly from eastern Asia and California. ...