Definition

A type of carbohydrate that comes from seaweed and is commonly used as a gel in laboratory experiments, especially for separating DNA and proteins.

Example

Researchers often use agarose to separate DNA fragments during gel electrophoresis.

Conversation

Have you ever worked with agarose in the lab?

Yeah, I used it for gel electrophoresis last semester.

I find it really fascinating how it separates DNA fragments.

Totally! It’s amazing how useful agarose is for that.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Agarose is derived from 'agar' (from Malay 'agar-agar', meaning jelly) and the suffix '-ose' (used in chemistry to denote sugars or carbohydrates). The word 'agarose' refers to a gel-like substance derived from agar, which is used in various biological applications.

Memory Tip

Think of 'agar' as a jelly-like substance and '-ose' indicating a sugar; together, they help you remember that agarose is a jelly-like carbohydrate used in labs.

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