Direct Fluorescence

Fast, easy gel analysis

Storm™ lets you see and analyze your nucleic acid and protein gels just minutes after electrophoresis.  Gel analysis with direct fluorescence is fast. To see and quantitate your DNA, RNA or protein samples, soak your gels in dye solution and rinse away the excess -- just as for well-known ethidium bromide and Coomassie™ protocols.

How fluorescence works

Fig.  Fluorochromes are excited to higher energy states by the Storm system's light source.  As they return to ground state, energy is emitted as light of a longer wavelength.  The Storm system collects and quantitates the emitted fluorescent light.

High resolution and direct quantitation

In addition to fast detection and analysis, you also get great image resolution.  Fast pixel-by-pixel fluorescence excitation eliminates fluorescent blooming caused by constant UV excitation in traditional systems, so you get better resolution of closely-spaced bands.  Quantitation is simplified, because unlike instant film, Storm offers a linear response to fluorescent signal intensities. Just scan your gel and determine band intensity ratios directly -- there's no UV light box, camera system, or darkroom time required.

Fluorescent Western Blotting Tubulin was detected on PVDF membrane using a Cy5 labeled secondary antibody.

Analyse and print gels over multiple platforms

After scanning and analysis, print your gel on any printer to make hard copy documentation for your notebook or for publication.  If you use the same gel for a follow-on blotting experiment, you can print the blot too, or open both images on the screen for actual-size comparisons and easy band identification.  The Storm system's ImageQuant™ software works over multiple platforms, so whether you're using PC or Mac, you have the same display, analysis and printout choices -- and a consistent user interface.