Michael wrote:
> I have read that the ABI 10X Running Buffer for the 3100 contains 100mM
> TAPS and 1 mM EDTA, but I have not found a complete ingredients list.
> Does anyone know of the complete protocol for making this running
> buffer from dry ingredients?
>> As a side note: I think it is both callous and greedy of ABI to sell
> 25mL of 10X buffer for $100 per bottle, especially at the rate in which
> it is discarded.
>No idea about the buffer composition of 10x running buffer, but ABI has
to pay for research on their next generation instruments as well as
running the entire company running on a day to day basis somehow. They
can't recover it all via the cost of the instrument itself. So they keep
the composition of their reagents a trade secret and keep themselves
running by charging a premium on said reagents. I'm not sure what other
method would keep the company running.
There are a couple of side effects from this practice though. (1)
Customers frequently become disgruntled because they are paying a large
amount of money for a small bottle of reagents. (2) To the extent that
the company reagents are used, quality control for those reagents can be
very closely monitored by the company. That is a positive thing, because
few labs would maintain this sort of vigilance. Hence the effect is
fewer failures. I think the two basically balance each other out.
Of course, the company could stringently maintain quality control and
only take a minor profit from reagents. But ABI's current business model
does not seem compatible with this.
--
Phillip SanMiguel
Purdue Genomics Core
