Guide to Biotechnology Reagents and Kits Education and Training

Staying competitive in the fast-evolving field of biotech reagents

By Phillip Galey

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Review the supply and demand forecast for biotechnology reagents

Of the three market segments of biotechnology (i.e. media, sera and reagents), biotechnology reagents and kits have the greatest potential for growth in the near term. Access reports online to familiarize yourself with the condition of the market segments and the projections.

I recommend: Global Industry Analysts sells a worldwide market analysis report for biotechnology reagents, but provides a summary and table of contents for the report without cost. BCC Research offers an informative market research on the three major markets within biotechnology as well as many other reports related to biotechnology reagents. If you are considering biotechnology reagents and kits education and training, the following will prove helpful.

Attend training to hone your skills in using biotechnology research products

Biotechnology is a fast-evolving scientific field, which requires ongoing training and workshops to stay abreast of new biotechnology research supplies and test procedures. These are two companies that can help you stay current.

I recommend: Geno Technology offers training and workshops where you can develop your understanding of, and expertise in, working with biochemical reagents. GeneEd provides online training in molecular biology, where students will learn about DNA sequencing and how to use biotechnology reagents to perform PCR.

Learn state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques employing modern biotechnology research supplies

The availability of biotech kits makes it possible to perform diagnostic tests on patients in remote areas before they are transported to a hospital. For poorer, third-world hospitals, such kits may be the only solution available.

I recommend: Ion Channel Media Group has a website that provides a vast array of articles discussing test procedures from different doctors for the diagnosis of malaria using diagnostics reagents in biotechnology kits. Bioresearch Online provides numerous articles covering a myriad of analytical techniques employing various assay reagents, antibody reagents, DNA reagents and other biotech reagents and kits.

Guide to Biotechnology Reagents and Kits

High school science classes can benefit from the use of biotechnology reagents and kits

By Andrea Buginsky, Freelance Writer

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find biotechnology kits

Teachers will want to buy biotechnology kits in bulk to collect your DNA, chemical, culture and bacterial samples. These kits are great for teachers to hand out to their students for science education. They are a way for teachers to engage and motivate their students. Teachers will want to provide a kit to each student to use on their own biotechnology experiments throughout the year.

I recommend: Educational Science offers many different biotechnology kits and biotechnology education kits. Carolina Biological Supply provides biotechnology kits for classrooms.

Find biotech reagents

Along with biotech kits, you will want to stock up on biotech reagents to prepare your specimens for testing. You will want to have a variety of reagents depending on your needs. You can use biochemical reagents, DNA reagents, assay reagents, antibody reagents or a mix of any of them. The best way to acquire your biotech reagents is through companies that manufacture different bioreagents.

I recommend: Boston BioProducts supplies high quality bioreagents to hospitals, research labs, universities, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies. You can use their bioreagents for protein research, molecular biology, bacterial media and agar plates, immunology and histology. Capitol Scientific offers one-stop shopping for all of your scientific needs. They produce a wide-range of biotech reagents that will allow you and your students to perform many different biotech experiments.

Find diagnostics reagents

Teachers may also want to have a collection of diagnostics reagents available if you are planning to teach your students how to use biotech kits to diagnose diseases. They detect diseases without worrying about antibodies getting in the way.

I recommend: Thermo Scientific produces the Clean-Blot IP Detection Reagent and Kit, which uses reagents that are universally compatible with primary antibodies and independent of the host species. GenWay makes high-quality proteins, antibodies, assays and cell lines.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Along with ordering these biotechnology research products, teachers may want to check the Internet for information on beginning biotechnology for teachers, such as Access Excellence.

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The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Biochemical reagents

Biochemical reagents are the substances that you mark with samples of chemicals, DNA, cultures, proteins, and bacteria for testing. It is the blanket term for reagents and covers such items as DNA reagents, assay reagents, antibody reagents and more.

I recommend: Click on each biochemical reagent from Lab Scientific to find out more about each agent's information and properties.

DNA and RNA reagents

DNA and RNA reagents are reagents used for genetic testing and are often used in oligo synthesis to produce multiplied quantities of the DNA or RNA for production or testing.

I recommend: Learn about DNA and RNA reagents from Honeywell International.

Assay reagents

Assay reagents are used for protein studies. They can be used for profiling studies or assay development uses.

I recommend: Learn more about viability and cytotoxicity assay reagents from Invitrogen Corporation. Find out about Kinase Assay Reagents from Cell Signaling Technology.

Antibody reagents

Antibody reagents are identification reagents used to detect or produce antibodies.

I recommend: Find out about BD APC-H7 Conjugated Antibody Reagents from BD Biosciences. Learn how fluorescent-antibody reagents are used for the identification of clostridium botulinum from the archives of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Diagnostics reagents

Diagnostics reagents are used to determine whether or not an individual or animal has a condition or disease. They are used for testing for conditions such as staph, fertility, drug abuse/toxicity, hepatitis, infectious disease and more.

I recommend: Find out about urine diagnostic reagent test strips from Craig Medical. Learn about diagnostics reagents for staphylococcus aureus from Diagnostic Systems.

Cell lines

Cell lines are the hereditary family of a cell, oftentimes replicated at a higher density to test or for other biological purposes.

I recommend: Learn from Analytica-World about the efficient transfection of neuroblastoma cell lines using FuGENE HD transfection reagent. Find out about the relationship between cell lines and available non-human primate reagents from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Guide to Biotechnology Reagents and Kits Applications and Uses

Discover where biotechnology reagents and kits are being used

By Andrea Buginsky, Freelance Writer

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Discover the uses for biotechnology reagents and kits in science classes

With the development of biotechnology research products, science classes can be a lot more interesting, and a lot more fun. You can order biotech reagents and kits for your science classes and use them to teach your students about DNA and DNA testing. There are many different experiments your students can conduct using the kits that will teach them how to understand different DNA traits, cloning techniques, how to analyze DNA traits and how DNA is used in crime scene investigations.

I recommend: Educational Science offers biotechnology reagents and kits for classrooms. Fisher Scientific offers different biotech reagents and kits for science experiments.

Discover the uses for biotechnology reagents and kits in medical diagnostic testing

Biotech reagents and kits are being used to conduct medical diagnosis tests. They can be used to conduct urinary analysis; hand, foot and mouth diseases; different types of infections; in vitro testing; and other medical diagnostics testing. A diagnostic reagent distributor or expert can provide you with more information on what medical diagnosis testing is currently being done with biotech reagents and kits.

I recommend: Intota provides an expert in diagnostic reagents you can consult with. Atlas Link Biotech has developed several different biotech medical testing kits.

Discover the uses for biotechnology reagents and kits in medical research

More and more medical testing is being developed as our technology increases. With the use of biotech reagents and kits, medical testing has reached a whole new level. There are several developments in the medical field thanks to biotech testing, and more to come in the future. Different biotech companies are providing the products medical research facilities need to conduct this research to help us further understand diseases, and hopefully find cures for them one day.

I recommend: Biotech Medical provides biotechnology devices for medical research. R&D Systems provide many different reagents for medical research.