Agarose is a
polysaccharide polymer material, generally extracted from seaweed
?. The molecules are extremely water-soluble due to their large number of hydroxy groups, and the solutions tend to be low-melting point aqueous gels
?. Sheets of agarose gels are readily prepared by pouring the warm, liquid solution into a mould, and are frequently used in
molecular biology for the separation of large molecules by
electrophoresis. A wide range of different agaroses, of varying molecular weights and properties are commercially available for this purpose.