Inhomogeneous reptation of polymers

We study the motion of long polymers (e.g. DNA) in a gel under the influence of an external force acting locally on small segments of the polymer. In particular, we examine the dependence of the drift velocity on the position where the force acts and the length of the polymer. As an application, we discuss the possibility of gel magnetophoresis — the size-separation of long polymers by the attachment of a magnetic bead at an arbitrary position along the length of the polymer. We show that there is a regime where the separation of such polymers with this ‘random-position beading’ is possible.