Grinding balls, silica & zirconium beads, pre-filled tubes, and bead beaters

If you need to crack open cells or tear apart tissues, the tools can be found at OPS Diagnostics. A simple and well established method for disrupting samples is by bead beating which uses grinding balls and a shaking homogenizer, or mixer mill, to smash, rip, and tear samples. Bead beating can be done in microfuge tubes to disrupt bacteria or in larger vessels to homogenize full organs.

The key tools needed for bead beating are as follows:

	Grinding Balls Grinding balls are used for plant and animal tissues. Small samples (e.g., 50 mg) can be processed in deep well plates with 5/32" balls while larger samples require vials and the larger balls.	Grinding Balls, 5/32" Stainless Steel (5000) Grinding Balls, 5/32" Zirconium Oxide (1000) Grinding Balls, 3/8" Stainless Steel (1000) Grinding Balls, 3/8 Tungsten Carbide (25) Grinding Balls, 7/16" Stainless Steel (1000) 6 mm Zirconium Oxide Grinding Satellites (1000)
	Glass/Silica & Zirconium Grinding Beads Beads are suitable for microorganisms, with the smaller sizes used for bacteria and larger for fungal mycelia. The different grades of beads depend on the application.	Pre-Filled Tubes (available with beads and balls) Low Binding Beads Molecular Biology Grade Beads Acid Washed Beads
	Grinding Vials For larger samples (above 200 mg) samples are best homogenized in vials. Polycarbonate are the best vial, but are incompatible with organics. Polyethylene vials can be used with organic solvents.	15 ml Vial Sets 24 Well PC Vial Sets 24 Well PE Vial Sets 15 ml Polycarbonate Replacement Vials 4 ml Polycarbonate Replacement Vials 4 ml Polyethylene Replacement Vials
	Pre-Filled Disruption Tubes Loading 2 ml and 0.5 ml tubes with beads is a nuisance. A wide variety of pre-filled tubes are available and can be used in both the Geno/Grinder and HT Homogenizer, as well as FastPrep and Precellys instruments.	All Pre-Filled Tubes Bacteria - 100 micron Zirconium or Silica Yeast - 400 micron Silica Molds - 800 micron Silica Leaf Tissues - 1.7 mm, 2.8 mm, or 3 mm beads Soft Animal Tissue - 2.8 mm, or 3 mm beads Skin/Sclera - 6 mm Satellite with Garnet
	Bead Beaters High throughput homogenizers can be used to process samples in vials, tubes, and plates. The pulsing vortexer is effective for homogenizing in tubes.	High Throughput Homogenizers HT Homogenizer Geno/Grinder 2010 Pulsing Vortex Mixer

Please contact us for additional information on how to "bead beat" samples. Our technical staff will provide you with real and pertinent information on how to homogenize your samples.