The cutting of DNA by restriction endonucleases results in the fragments of DNA. These fragments can be separated by a technique known as gel electrophoresis. The DNA fragments can be separated by forcing them to move towards the anode under an electric field according to their size through sieving effect provided by the agarose gel.

The separated DNA fragments can be visualised after staining the DNA with ethidium bromide followed by exposure to UV radiation. You can see bright orange coloured bands of DNA in a ethidium bromide stained gel exposed to UV light. The separated bands of DNA are cut out from the agarose gel and extracted from the gel piece. This step is known as elution.