Unified theory for gel electrophoresis and gel filtration: The behavior of macromolecules in gel filtration and gel electrophoresis may be predicted from Ogston's model for a random meshwork of fibers. This model has been generalized to apply to nonspherical molecules and to several gel types. The model provides equations for inter-relationships between mobility, partition coefficient, gel concentration, and molecular radius; it gives a non-Gaussian distribution of pore sizes as a function of gel concentration. The theory defines conditions for optimal separation and optimal resolution in gel filtration and gel electrophoresis. The difference in resolving power between the two fractionation methods is accounted for by the fact that gel filtration is a form of partition chromatography.