The methodology and instrumentation for fast denaturing electrophoresis in short capillaries was developed and exemplified by detection of short tandem repeat polymorphism in the endothelin 1 gene. The resolution of two nucleotides, which is required for the detection of a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism, was achieved in a capillary of an effective length of 2.5 cm at a temperature of 60 degrees C and an electric field strength of 600 V/cm in 42 s. Thus, the use of denaturing electrophoresis in short capillaries with laser-induced fluorescence detection resulted in a reduction of analysis time by a factor of 200 when compared to the conventional slab gel electrophoresis. The developed methodology and instrumentation is advantageous for an implementation in clinical diagnostics and genetic population screening where fast analytical instrumentation amenable to automation is of paramount importance.