Explain how gel electrophoresis is used to analyze nucleic acids and proteins and to distinguish between two alleles of a gene?

Gel electrophoresis refers to a process, which is used to distinguish fragments of DNA on the basis of their size. The samples of DNA are loaded into well at one terminal of a gel, and an electric current is passed to pull them across the gel. The fragments of DNA are charged negatively, thus, they move towards the electrode, which is positive.

For analyzing nucleic acids and proteins, the gel electrophoresis develops a band pattern, which signifies the starting molecule and the restriction enzyme utilized. The molecules of DNA can then be determined by their restriction fragment patterns.

The restriction enzymes determine a particular sequence of nucleotides so a distinct mixture of fragments for each allele will be produced.