The Use of Capillary Electrophoresis in Genotyping STR Loci

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an emerging technology that has the potential to increase the speed and automation of DNA-typing procedures (1 ,2 ). Although slab-gel electrophoresis is widely used, there are several advantages to analyzing DNA in a capillary format. First and foremost, the injection, separation, and detection can be fully automated. Rapid separations (from high voltages) are permitted as a result of efficient heat dissipation in the capillary. In addition, quantitative information is available in a single step in conjunction with computer collection of the data. Finally, only minute quantities of sample are consumed and very little waste is generated. These advantages make CE an efficient means of DNA analysis, particularly for DNA fragments generated by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (see Note 1 ).