If I were in your place,I would wean myself from using the brand name
reagents and solvents.Nearly thirty years ago,
Beckman had a lock on the sequencing business,and,if an investigator wanted
to keep the warranty,he/she had to buy their chemicals.Not only that,but
entire kits,whether or not all the components were needed.Then,one day
somebody
screwed up with preparation of a single solvent,and the production was
stopped cold for about three months.And,only one solvent was not up to
specs,but they would not sell a-la-carte.The investigators grew
impatient,and,as expected
they started looking at alternative sources.And,not so surprisingly,the
sources were pretty good.Finally,after three months Beckman was able to
come up with the first kit which was up to specs.The outcome?Beckman had to
start selling a-la-carte,And,the sequencing business started going
downhill.
Back then,there were no Core Facilities,so Principal Investigators went in
the lab to solve problems.There must be an
Agilent users list,and it would be good to know how they are doing with
their chemicals,and,if they use alternate sources.
It may take some work,but everything can be replaced,and,eventually save a
lot of money.
Melanie Madanat <Melanie.Madanat.B@bayer.com>@aecom.yu.edu> on 09/27/2000
04:22:04 PM
Sent by: Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities
<abrf-request@aecom.yu.edu>
To: Recipients of ABRF List <abrf@aecom.yu.edu>
cc:
Subject: Agilent sequencer reagents
Our lab has a (now obsolete) Agilent 241 instrument which is used
exclusively
for N-terminal sequencing.
Up until early this year this instrument has generally been robust.
However,
since Agilent has contracted its manufacturing of reagents to Aldrich, I
have
been faced with reagent shortages and "bad" reagents.
The issue of reagent shortages/back orders has just gotten worse over time.
I
have to "track down" the products with the ordering dept. at Agilent and
often
find out that the item has been further back-ordered.
The issue of "bad" reagents has not been addressed properly by Agilent. I
strongly believe that every Agilent sequencer user should be notified as
soon
as a defective product is identified. Instead we end up calling our
service
engineer to work on an instrument that may have no hardware problem, but is
"acting up" due to reagent issues.
So, my question to Agilent Sequencer users, where are you currently getting
your reagents to run the instrument?
ABI supplies R3, R4 and S2A. Has anyone used this and found them to be
adequate for the Agilent instrument?
What about the remaining reagents that ABI does not supply?
Your responses would be greatly appreciated.
Melanie Madanat
Bayer Corp.
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