A hot-start Taq DNA polymerase modified using a novel modifying reagent, it has a faster activation time and better shelf-life. Product shipping, storage, shelf life, solubility Where can I find the expiration date or shelf life of a product? Bioscience kits The guaranteed shelf life from date of receipt for bioscience kits is listed on the product information sheet. Some kits have an expiration date printed on the kit box label, this is the guaranteed shelf life date calculated from the day that the product shipped from our facility. Kits often are functional for significantly longer than the guaranteed shelf life. If you have an older kit in storage that you wish to use, we recommend performing a small scale positive control experiment to confirm that the kit still works for your application before processing a large number of samples or precious samples. Antibodies and other conjugates The guaranteed shelf life from date of receipt for antibodies and conjugates is listed on the product information sheet. Antibodies and other conjugates often are functional for significantly longer than the guaranteed shelf life. If you have an older conjugate in storage that you wish to use, we recommend performing a small scale positive control experiment to confirm that the product still works for your application before processing a large number of samples or precious samples. For lyophilized antibodies, we recommend reconstituting the antibody with glycerol and antimicrobial preservative like sodium azide for the longest shelf life (note that sodium azide is not compatible with HRP-conjugates). Chemicals, dyes, and gel stains Biotium guarantees the stability of chemicals, dyes, and gel stains for at least a year from the date you receive the product. However, the majority of these products are highly stable for many years, as long as they are stored as recommended. Storage conditions can be found on the product information sheet or product safety and data sheet, material safety data sheet, and on the product label. Fluorescent compounds should be protected from light for long term storage. If you have a Biotium compound that has been in storage for longer than one year that you wish to use, we recommend performing a small scale positive control experiment to confirm that the compound still works for your application before processing a large number of samples or precious samples. Expiration date based on date of manufacture (DOM) If your institution requires you to document expiration date based on date of manufacture for reagents, please contact techsupport@biotium.com for assistance. Chemical products with special stability considerations: Esters Ester compounds include the following: • Succinimidyl esters (SE, also known as NHS esters), such as our amine-reactive dyes • Acetoxymethyl esters (AM esters) such as our membrane-permeable ion indicator dyes • Diacetate-modified dyes, like ViaFluor™ 405, CFDA, and CFDA-SE cell viability/cell proliferation dyes Ester dyes are stable in solid form as long as they are protected from light and moisture. Esters are not stable in aqueous solution. Concentrated stock solutions should be prepared in anhydrous DMSO (see Biotium catalog no. 90082). Stock solutions in anhydrous DMSO can be stored desiccated at -20°C for one month or longer. Esters should be diluted in aqueous solution immediately before use. Succinimidyl esters (SE) should be dissolved in a solution that is free of amine-containing compounds like Tris, glycine, or protein, which will react with the SE functional group. AM esters and diacetate compounds should be dissolved in a solution that is free of serum, because serum could contain esterases that would hydrolyze the compound. A note on CF™ dye succinimidyl ester stability Succinimidyl esters are generally susceptible to hydrolysis, which can result in lower labeling efficiency. Heavily sulfonated dyes, such as the Alexa Fluor® dyes, DyLight® dyes and IRDyes® are particularly hygroscopic, worsening the hydrolysis problem. For example, the percent of active Alexa Fluor® 488 succinimidyl ester (SE) could be well below 50% by the time of application (according to the manufacturer’s product datasheet). In a number of Alexa Fluor® SE reactive dyes, the SE group is derived from an aromatic carboxylic acid, while in all of Biotium’s CF™ dyes the SE group is prepared from an aliphatic carboxylic acid. This structural difference reduces the susceptibility of CF™ dye SE reactive groups to hydrolysis, resulting in relatively stable reactive dyes with consistently higher labeling efficiency compared to other SE derivatives of other fluorescent dyes. Maleimides, MTS and thiosulfate dyes Like the succinimidyl ester dyes, these dyes are also susceptible to hydrolysis, although generally to a much lower degree. Thus, for long term storage, anhydrous DMSO is recommended for making stock solutions. Other reactive dyes Amines, aminooxy (also known as oxylamine), hydrazide, azide, alkyne, BCN, and tyramide reactive dyes, as well as dye free acids, are generally stable in aqueous solution when stored at -20°C for 6-12 months or longer, as long as no compounds are present that may react with the dye’s functional group. See the product information sheets for specific reactive dyes more information. Coelenterazines and D-luciferin Coelenterazines are stable in solid form when stored as recommended; they are not stable in aqueous solution. Concentrated coelenterazine stock solutions (typically 1-100 mg/mL) should be prepared in ethanol or methanol; do not use DMSO or DMF to dissolve coelenterazines, because these solvents will oxidize the compounds. Ethanol or methanol stocks of coelenterazine can be stored at -20°C or below for six months or longer; alcohol stocks may evaporate during storage, so use tightly sealing screw cap vials and wrap the vials with Parafilm for long term storage. Propylene glycol also can be used as a solvent to minimize evaporation. If the solvent evaporates, the coelenterazine will still be present in the vial, so note the volume in the vial prior to storage so that you can adjust the solvent volume to correct for evaporation if needed. Prepare working solutions in aqueous buffers immediately before use. Coelenterazines are stable for up to five hours in aqueous solution. Aquaphile™ coelenterazines are water soluble formulations of coelenterazines. They are stable in solid form when stored as recommended. Aquaphile™ coelenterazines should be dissolved in aqueous solution immediately before use. They are stable for up to five hours in aqueous solution. Note that coelenterazines are predominantly yellow solids, but may contain dark red or brown flecks. This does not affect product stability or performance. If your coelenterazine is uniformly brown, then it is oxidized and needs to be replaced. D-luciferin is stable in solid form and as a concentrated stock solution when stored as recommended; it is not stable at dilute working concentrations in aqueous solution. Prepare concentrated D-luciferin stock solutions (typically 1-100 mg/mL) in water, and store in aliquots at -20°C or below for six months or longer. Prepare working solutions immediately before use. View more FAQs My product arrived at room temperature or thawed, but it’s supposed to be stored at 4°C or -20°C. Is it still ok? Most of our products are stable at room temperature for many days, but we recommend storage at 4°C or -20°C to prolong shelf life. In the case of many of our aqueous dye solutions, the compounds are very stable at room temperature, but we recommend cold storage to prevent the growth of mold or other microbes over time. Therefore, to save on shipping costs, products with recommended storage at 4°C or -20°C may ship at ambient temperature or with an ice pack. These products may thaw without affecting product performance. When you receive the product, place it under the recommended storage conditions. Some products are shipped with blue ice packs as an extra precaution against high temperatures. The blue ice packs may be thawed upon arrival without affecting product performance. Products with recommended storage at ultra low temperature (-70°C) that also ship on dry ice should arrive frozen. If a product you received was shipped on dry ice and thawed during transit, please contact customer service at order@biotium.com. You can also download our Product Storage Statement here. View more FAQs My product was accidentally left out at room temperature or exposed to light. Is it ruined? Most of our products are stable at room temperature for many days, so in all likelihood the product will still work just fine. To be on the safe side, we recommend performing a small scale positive control experiment to confirm that the product still works for your application before processing a large number of samples or precious samples. One exception that we are aware of is GelGreen™, which is more sensitive to light exposure than most of our other fluorescent dyes. If GelGreen™ is exposed to ambient light for a prolonged period of time (days to weeks), its color will change from dark orange to brick red. If this occurs, the GelGreen will no longer work for gel staining. View more FAQs Note: Due to operating restrictions related to our COVID-19 response, primary antibody conjugates of R-PE, APC, PerCP, HRP, or AP are temporarily unavailable. All other antibody options are still available. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please see our easy-to-use Mix-n-Stain™ Antibody Labeling Kits for labeling antibodies with R-PE, APC, tandem dyes, and enzymes. Size Catalog # price Shipping, Handling & Tax (CA only) not included in price. Learn more Tax is assessed in the state of California. All fees will be calculated during checkout based on your shipping information and are subject to change. Cheetah Taq is a chemically modified hot-start Taq DNA polymerase useful for preventing or reducing nonspecific DNA amplification in PCR. Modified using a novel modifying reagent, Cheetah Taq represents a major improvement upon AmpliTaq® Gold by having a faster activation time and better shelf-life. Features Hot-start Taq polymerase Modified using unique hot-start chemistry Absolutely no activity at room temperature Fast activation: takes less than 2 minutes of heating to activate Very stable during storage Components Cheetah Taq, 5 U/uL, 100 uL (in buffer containing Tris-HCl pH 9.0, DTT, EDTA, KCl and glycerol) 10X Cheetah Taq Reaction Buffer (without Mg2+), 1.5 mL 25 mM MgCl2, 1.5 mL Under standard hot-start conditions (i.e., 94°C in pH 8-9 Tris), Cheetah Taq regains both the 3 -5 polymerase and 5 -exonuclease activities within two minutes. Cheetah Taq is also superior to antibody-based hot-start DNA polymerases due to its complete suppression of enzyme activity at room temperature and full recovery of enzyme activity following activation. AmpliTaq is a registered trademark of Thermo Fisher Scientific. 1. Oncotarget (2011) 2:358-362 doi:10.18632/oncotarget.287 2. Eur Food Res Technol (2011) 232(6):1057-1060 doi: 10.1007/s00217-011-1482-0 3. Food Anal Methods (2011) 4, 116–120 doi:10.1007/s12161-010-9141-9 4. Clin Chem (2012) Apr;58(4):725-31 doi:10.1373/clinchem.2011.180356 5. PLoS One (2013) 8(6): e67082 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067082 6. BMC Res Notes (2014) Oct 15;7:727 doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-727 7. ScientificWorldJournal (2014) 2014:893981 doi: 10.1155/2014/893981 8. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry (2015) Apr 3;58:71-80 doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2014.11.008 9. J Low Genit Tract Dis (2016) Oct;20(4):332-7 doi: 10.1097/LGT.0000000000000251 10. Pol J Vet Sci (2017) Dec;20(4):795-801 doi: 10.1515/pjvs-2017-0100 11. Food Control (2018) 83; 118-122 doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.12.026 An easy and accurate way to determine the activity of a DNA polymerase without using radioisotopes. Detailed View A patented green fluorescent nucleic acid dye with features that are ideal for applications such as qPCR, HRM®, LAMP, and digital PCR. Detailed View EvaGreen® Plus Dye has an improved signal-to-noise compared to original EvaGreen® dye, for higher sensitivity in DNA amplification applications. Detailed View A high-performance dye-based qPCR master mix containing EvaGreen®, Cheetah HotStart Taq Polymerase, and the Forget-Me-Not 2-color tracking system. Detailed View A 5X master mix specially formulated to address the complexities of reagent flow through dPCR chips and plates to achieve optimal sample partitioning and maximum end-point fluorescence. Detailed View A far-red passive reference dye for qPCR that frees up the ROX channel for use with JUN probes, EvaRuby qPCR dye, and other orange dyes. Detailed View Biotium implements a Quality System, certified by QAS according to Standard QAS ISO 9001:2015. Certificate No. US3564