Don't Eat The Agarose!

I wanted to share some pictures of the cookies that my wonderfully bookish and supportive fiance made for my Darwin Day party. For those of you that aren't molecular biologists, they're electrophoresis gels, and are used to separate DNA or proteins by size and/or charge. Generally, DNA is loaded into a well at one end of the agarose gel. An electrical current is then passed through the gel, and since DNA is negatively charged, it slowly migrates toward the positive electrode. Smaller fragments are able to move faster than the bigger ones, so it acts as a kind of molecular sieve -causing the DNA to separate into the bands seen below. The gel is then stained with the chemical (in this case Ethidium bromide) that allows you to see the DNA. The Ethidium bromide binds to the DNA and fluoresces under a UV light, which is why the bands look hot pink in color.

The cookies were delicious and huge hit with my Darwin Day'ers. You can find this cookie recipe at the blog Not So Humble Pie, along with plenty of other science-themed treats.

An excellent likeness, if I do say so myself!