Dr Eliot Barson's top reagent picks!
Dr. Eliot Barson's extensive experience as a lecturer and researcher has given him a strong foundation to recommend the best products for customers. With a background in conducting 2D and 3D cell culture, qPCR, lentiviral transduction, and invasion assays, he is well-prepared to highlight the Appleton Woods reagent portfolio and its value to the scientific community.
Learn more about Dr Eliot's Top Picks below!
My Top Picks for Cell Culture
For me, FBS was used every day in the lab but like most scientists I was well aware of the Animal welfare, lack of sustainable practices and decreased FBS availability pushing up the price. Customers always ask me for an FBS that overcomes these issues without affecting their work or FBS performance.
Capricorn's FBS Xtra is the next-generation cell culture additive that looks to combat the issues of FBS. Capricorn has identified the key growth components with FBS, this allows for a reduced FBS. The key components within the FBS can be reincorporated promoting factors like insulin, transferrin, trace elements, and amino acids in a chemically defined and recombinant form.
From our customer feedback, they like the fact they can make the more sustainable option, with low batch variation without the hefty price tag. Capricorn have removed animal products from their specialist media as well which means you can grow cells such as HEK and CHOs completely animal-free.
One of our most popular cell culture reagents is the Corning Matrigel Matrix, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. It is the most widely used extracellular matrix in publication and can be used for 2D and 3D cell cultures. Matrigel is the gold standard for cellular differentiation, angiogenesis, tumour and invasion. Matrigel has many different concentrations or optimised formulations, please feel free to ask about what they are, and we are happy to help guide your work. We provide the complete Corning package with experts on hand to provide a helping hand.
One of the long tedious jobs that was always an annoyance in the lab was the routine mycoplasma testing. The Rapid MycoPlasma Detection Kit by MycoGenie is a simple assay kit that requires no special equipment that detects mycoplasma in cell culture as sensitive as qPCR methods. This assay kit only requires to be incubated for an hour and then you can visibly see if mycoplasma is present. This kit is extremely sensitive and can detect as little as 500cfu Mycoplasma per 1ul of cell culture supernatant highlighting any issues early during contamination.
My Top Picks for Molecular Biology
Our molecular biology reagents are a favourite of mine to talk about, this is because we offer a superior product at a competitive price that customers use have as a core part of their work. The appSCRIPT cDNA synthesis kit and appGREEN qPCR reagents are all manufactured in the UK which reduces the time you wait for your orders! The PCR range from Appleton offers the latest advancements in PCR technology with non-inhibiting intercalating dyes, early detection of Ct values due to the rapid extension rate and use on all thermal cyclers.
The appCERTIFI, redefines what a high-fidelity polymerase enzyme can do. Its aptamer hot start technology provides a revisable inhibition of the reaction which stops nonspecific PCR and then after the PCR stops the exonuclease activity of the enzyme. This enzyme is a one-stop shop which works in fast cycling, high GC and for those longer PCR extensions.
I enjoy talking about our Appleton Woods accessory products for your molecular biology assays such as agarose, appLadders and safe stains. These are items all labs routinely buy and often get stuck buying the same products. It is great to be able to provide a better product and a much more attractive price. We can do a package which can keep your lab topped up with even better deals.
If you would like to know more...
We can provide a fully bespoke service for media, buffers and chemicals. Often these take a long time to produce in the lab, can be toxic in manufacture or expensive. So let us take out the hard work and provide a fully validated service for you.
For cell culture, we can provide custom dry powders, liquid media and a complete media with all of your growth additives premixed and fully validated. These are especially popular with our artificial meat customers or high-use customers.
For buffers or chemicals, we can provide a bespoke service based on your needs in custom quantities and packaging.
Please let us know what you need, and we will be happy to take your hard work away.
