Bio-Rad, Digilab Division, Cambridge, Mass.
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is often used as a carrier protein or stabilizing agent in research and diagnostic applications. The demand for high-quality reagents has grown as the sensitivity of these applications has increased. PanVera's new Ultrapure BSA reportedly has the lowest levels of contaminating RNase and DNase of the commercially available BSAs. This purity level has been achieved by exhaustive purification of native BSA rather than by chemical modification methods, such as acetylation. In addition to nuclease activity, PanVera Ultrapure BSA is tested for protease activity, alkaline phosphatase and peroxidase, and ultralow fluorescence background, according to the company. It is said to be well-suited for applications in which the absence of degradative enzymes is critical. Applications include probe-based diagnostics, immunoblotting, receptor-binding studies, antibody dilution, radioactive quenching, enzyme stabilization, ELISAs, radioimmunoassays, immunofluorescence, and enzyme assays. PanVera Ultrapure BSA is filter-sterilized and available as a 10 ...
