Reagent Supplies

About this category

This category covers the ancillary materials used to handle lyophilised research compounds in the laboratory: bacteriostatic water and sterile diluents for reconstitution, and the consumables involved in measuring and transferring solutions. They are supporting reagents and equipment rather than research compounds in their own right.

Bacteriostatic water is sterile water containing a small proportion of benzyl alcohol as a preservative, which inhibits bacterial growth in a vial that will be accessed more than once. Sterile water without preservative is the alternative where the preservative would interfere with an assay, though it is single-use in practice. Which diluent is appropriate depends on the peptide, the intended storage period and whether anything in the preparation is sensitive to benzyl alcohol.

Diluent choice is a genuine experimental variable rather than an afterthought. Reconstitution solvent, pH, storage temperature and the number of times a vial is accessed all affect measured stability, and inconsistency here is a common source of variation between otherwise identical preparations. Recording the diluent used alongside the batch number is good practice.

Our reconstitution calculator converts vial mass and solvent volume into resulting concentration, and the research hub covers reconstitution and cold-chain storage in more detail.

These materials are supplied strictly for in-vitro laboratory research. They are not medicines, are not licensed for human or veterinary use, and no guidance on use in humans or animals is offered or implied.