GELRED® & GELGREEN®
How Safe is Your Gel Stain?
A number of ethidium bromide (EtBr) alternatives are marketed as being safe. In fact, many so-called “safe” gel stains contain dyes that are well known to bind DNA in living cells, with cytotoxic effects. GelRed® and GelGreen® are highly sensitive gel stains designed to be nontoxic and nonmutagenic by virtue of being cell membrane impermeable, so they cannot enter living cells. Download our white paper to learn more.
GelRed® and GelGreen®
Safer alternatives to EtBr, SYBR® Safe, and others
EtBr has been the predominant dye used for nucleic acid staining for decades because of its low price and generally sufficient sensitivity. However, EtBr is a highly mutagenic material. The safety hazard and costs associated with decontamination and waste disposal can ultimately make the nucleic acid dye expensive to use. The dye experts at Biotium developed the extremely popular GelRed® and GelGreen® fluorescent agarose gel stains to not only be the most sensitive DNA gel stains on the market, but also the safest: they are the only DNA gel stains that have been tested and found to be safe and non-toxic by independent laboratories. To learn more, visit the GelRed® and GelGreen® technology page.
Click here to download an App Note on using GelRed® and GelGreen® on the UVP GelDoc-It® imaging system. Click here to download an App Note on using GelGreen® on the UVP GelDoc-It® imaging system with the Visi-Blue™ Converter Plate.
GelRed® and GelGreen® stains are also available pre-coated to ultra-pure LE agarose. Using GelRed® Agarose & GelGreen® Agarose is easy and convenient, and obviates the need to handle concentrated fluorescent dye.
GelRed® Features:
- Visualized with UV transilluminators using ethidium bromide detection settings
- Most sensitive fluorescent red DNA gel stain
- Safer and more environmentally friendly than EtBr, as well as other so-called “safe” gel stains
- Can be used as a post-stain, or precast in agarose
- Available as a 10,000X stock, ready-to-use 3X solution, and in 6X loading buffer format
GelGreen® Features:
- Visualized with blue light boxes or UV light box using SYBR® green detection settings
- More sensitive than SYBR® Safe
- Safer for users and the environment than SYBR® Safe and other so-called “safe” gel stains
- Can be used as a post-stain, or precast in agarose
- Available in a concentrated 10,000X stock
| Product Name | Catalog Number | Size |
|---|---|---|
| GelRed® 10,000X in water | 41003-T | 0.1 mL (Trial Size) |
| 41003 | 0.5 mL | |
| 41003-1 | 10 mL | |
| GelGreen® 10,000X in water | 41005 | 0.5 mL |
| 41005-1 | 10 mL | |
| GelRed® 3X in water | 41001 | 4 L |
| 6X GelRed® Prestain Loading Buffer, Blue Tracking Dye | 41009 | 1 mL |
| 6X GelRed® Prestain Loading Buffer, Orange Tracking Dye | 41010 | 1 mL |
| GelRed® Prestain Plus 6X DNA Loading Dye | 41011 | 1 mL |
| GelRed® Agarose LE | 41029-5G | 5 g |
| 41029-50G | 50 g | |
| GelGreen® Agarose LE | 41030-5G | 5 g |
| 41030-50G | 50 g |
PAGE GELRED® FOR ACRYLAMIDE GELS
PAGE GelRed® is a version of our popular GelRed® dye that was specially formulated for staining DNA in polyacrylamide gels. Like the classic GelRed®, PAGE GelRed® has also been found to be safe by independent laboratories.
Download the PAGE GelRed® Safety Report.
PAGE GelRed® Features:
- Visualized with UV transilluminators using ethidium bromide detection settings
- Formulated for efficient penetration and staining of polyacrylamide gels
- Proven safe and environmentally friendly
- Compatible with downstream cloning applications
| Product Name | Catalog Number | Size |
|---|---|---|
| PAGE GelRed® 10,000X in Water | 41008-T | 0.1 mL |
| PAGE GelRed® 10,000X in Water | 41008-500uL | 500 uL |
| PAGE GelRed® 1X in Water | 41014 | 4 L |
DNAZURE® VISIBLE DNA GEL STAIN
As Biotium continues to innovate in gel staining, we now offer a truly unique visible DNA gel stain called DNAzure®. DNAzure® dye binds to DNA in an agarose gel, and after exposure to light develops visible blue bands. The blue staining is long-lasting and doesn’t require any further light source, making it ideal for cutting out bands (no worry about UV light damaging your DNA sample or your eyes). Even more amazing is that this visible stain is more sensitive than more fluorescent DNA gel stains.
DNAzure® Features:
- Deep blue bands visible by the naked eye following 5-30 min light exposure
- Ultrasensitive detection, as little as ~1 ng DNA
- Simplified DNA band excision, without the need for DNA damaging UV light
- Expensive gel documentation systems not required for imaging
- Compatible with downstream cloning applications
- Bands are stable for weeks after color development
- Also detectable on near-infrared scanners
| Product Name | Catalog Number | Size |
|---|---|---|
| DNAzure® Blue Nucleic Acid Gel Stain | 41020 | 10 mL |
Classic Gel Stains
Biotium offers several classic nucleic acid gel stains. Oxazole Gold (also known as SYBR® Gold) is a UV-excitable nucleic acid binding dye and is considered the most sensitive fluorescent DNA/RNA gel stain. Oxazole Gold is particularly useful for staining RNA and single-stranded oligos (see figure on right).
Thiazole Green (also known as SYBR® Green) is excitable by UV or blue light and may also be used for detection of DNA or RNA in agarose or polyacrylamide gels.
Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is widely used as a UV-excitable DNA gel stain and is a known mutagen.
| Product Name | Catalog Number | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Thiazole Green (SYBR® Green I), 10,000X in DMSO | 40086-0.5mL | 500 uL |
| 40086-1mL | 1 mL | |
| Oxazole Gold (SYBR® Gold), 10,000X in DMSO | 40094 | 500 uL |
| Ethidium Bromide, 10 mg/mL in H2O | 40042 | 10 mL |
LED GEL ILLUMINATORS
Gel-Bright™ LED Gel Illuminator
The Gel-Bright™ LED Gel Illuminator was developed by Biotium as a simple, effective device for the visualization of fluorescent green DNA gel stains such as GelGreen®. It is also able to photoactivate the visible blue DNA gel stain, DNAzure®.
Gel-Bright™ Features:
- Optimized for green dyes, such as GelGreen® DNA Gel Stain
- Compatible with red dyes such as GelRed®, though with reduced sensitivity
- Can facilitate generation of visible blue DNA bands with DNAzure® visible DNA gel stain
- Amber filter plate optimized for improved signal to background
- Safer than a UV transilluminator; UV protective eyewear or clothing are not required
- No UV-induced damage of DNA
- Blue LEDs angled diagonally for even illumination throughout the gel
Glo-Plate™ Blue LED Illuminator
The Glo-Plate™ Blue LED Gel Illuminator is another blue LED device that is able to photoactivate the visible blue DNA gel stain, DNAzure®. It’s flat surface provides even illumination across the gel.
Glo-Plate™ Features:
- Can facilitate generation of visible blue DNA bands with DNAzure® visible DNA gel stain
- Safer than a UV transilluminator; UV protective eyewear or clothing are not required
- No UV-induced damage of DNA
- Blue LEDs arranged under a diffuser plate allow even illumination from the bottom
- 4 timer settings
- Simple, lightweight design with a small footprint makes it easily portable
- Also useful for photoactivation of PMA & PMAxx™ viability PCR dyes
| Product Name | Catalog Number | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Gel-Bright™ LED Gel Illuminator | E90003 | Visualization of gels stained with fluorescent green dyes such as GelGreen™ Activation of the visible blue gel stain DNAzure® |
| Glo-Plate™ Blue LED Illuminator | E90004 | Activation of the visible blue gel stain DNAzure® Activation of PMA & PMAxx™ viability PCR dyes |