LabConsumer recently took a look at custom oligo houses (J. Kling, The Scientist, 12(7) 18, March 30, 1998), and found that there's more than one kind of company: those that produce standard (commonly referred to as vanilla) oligos quickly and, for the most, part cheaply and those that specialize in oligos with an ever-increasing array of tags and modifications. Since there wasn't the time or space to do the latter group of companies justice in the previous article, this article revisits custom oligos, focusing on them. But first is a brief compendium of some of the special features currently in use: - Nuclease resistance: Antisense oligos are finding a place in both therapeutic and research arenas. To enhance their efficacy, modifications to oligos have been introduced to make them resistant to nuclease digestion. A commonly used modification for this is the substitution of phosphodiester bonds with phosphorothioate...
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