Gel pictures

To take pictures of gels, we can use the common departmental imaging equipment on the 4th floor.

Take the freight elevators down to the 4th floor, take a right after getting off the elevators and walk down a few steps and take the first right.

Enter the first room on the left, see picture below:

In this room, we have two options for taking pictures of our gels: the ImageQuant and the Bio-Rad VersaDoc, see pictures below:

ImageQuant:

The ImageQuant takes pictures of gels against a white background. Follow the instructions posted near the machine. Make sure to click on "Method/Tray position" and select the appropriate stain you used in order to have the correct fluorescence (SYBR Green or Etbr). On this screen you can also chose how zoomed in you want your gel picture to be (1-4 levels, with 1 being zoomed out completely). Also, click on "Brightness" to make sure your gel is aligned properly and to adjust the brightness.

For exposure time, start with 7-8 seconds and adjust higher or lower according to your image. Select "Manual" and "sec" and type in the seconds exposure you want.

Make sure to save your image under "Pai Lab" folder and don't forget to email a picture of your gel to yourself.

VersaDoc

The VersaDoc takes pictures of your gels in a slightly different way against a black background. Make sure you follow the instructions for "VersaDoc" posted near the machine (there are multiple instructions, so make sure you read the one for VersaDoc). Select the proper nucleic acid stain and adjust the focus and contrast before taking the picture. Play around with the contrast and exposure time to find one that suits your gel.

To save your image in the VersaMake sure to save your image under the "Pai lab" folder and email a copy to yourself.

Please ensure that you clean the imaging platform in both the machines after using it!