US Patent 7662640 Method for silver staining of biological substances

A method for silver staining a gel on which biological substances such as nucleic acids and proteins are separated by electrophoresis, which comprises at least the following steps: (a) the step of immersing an untreated gel after the electrophoresis in an aqueous solution of sodium thiosulfate; (b) the step of immersing the gel obtained in the step (a) in a mixture of ethanol and an aqueous solution of sodium acetate; and (c) the step of immersing the gel obtained in the step (b) in a mixture of ethanol and an aqueous solution of silver nitrate.