Page "Gel electrophoresis" Paragraph 10

" Most agarose gels are made with between 0. 7 % ( good separation or resolution of large 5 – 10kb DNA fragments ) and 2 % ( good resolution for small 0. 2 – 1kb fragments ) agarose dissolved in electrophoresis buffer.

Up to 3 % can be used for separating very tiny fragments but a vertical polyacrylamide gel is more appropriate in this case.

Low percentage gels are very weak and may break when you try to lift them.

High percentage gels are often brittle and do not set evenly.

1 % gels are common for many applications.