In an attempt to find a way to run the gels faster the gel rig (apparatus) was placed in a large refrigeratur at 4^oC.  The power going through the gel was increased as well.  Below are the pictures of the gels, beginning with a gel run at room temperature.  All of the gels are 32 cm in length.
 

This is a 15% polyacrylamide gel run at room temperature at low power (app. 10 mA / 200 V).  It took 56 hours to run!  Needless to say, a more timely method is desirable.  :)

The bands are marked and the molecular weight of each has been interpreted to the left.

Running the gel at higher power leads to "smiling" of the bands.  An example of this "smiling" is shown below.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This 15% gel was run in the refrigerator at 4^oC and 20 mA.  It ran for 18 hours.  A distinct "smiling" can be seen.  This curve of the samples makes the interpretation of the bands very difficult and prone to much inaccuracy.
 

This 15% gel was run in the refrigerator at 4^oC and 30 mA.  It ran for 12 hours.  The "smiling" in this gel makes it impossible to interpret and it is presently useful perhaps only as a form of modern art. . . .  :)

These pictures indicate that something rather than mere temperature of the gel is important.  In the refrigerator even at the highest power (30 mA) the gel never reached room temperature and was certainly not warm to the touch.

When a gel is running the center becomes warmer than the outside edges.  This leads to faster movement of things (DNA here) through that part of the gel.  Additional reading on the topic lead me to believe that in order to run the gel quickly and evenly something would have to be added to the gel rig apparatus in order to spread the heat produced by the current flowing through the gel evenly across the whole gel.  On sequencing gel rigs there is an aluminum plate pressed against the glass plates containing the gel.  Here is what I have come up with to use at this point. . . .
 
 

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