To combine protein electrophoresis with an understanding of enzyme activity, students use agarose protein electrophoresis to separate proteins in human saliva, bean extract, or another sample of interest and examine them for amylase activity.

Samples are run in duplicate: half the gel is used for COOMASSIE® total protein staining to show multiple proteins; the other half is incubated under conditions to optimize amylase activity. Visible gel clearing from digestion of starch present in the gel can be seen where the bands of amylase are present. Good for inquiry-based learning!