I don’t need to use the whole bottle of ColonyGEL™ at once. Can I re-freeze it after I’ve thawed it?

Yes. ColonyGEL™ products are very robust and can withstand a few freeze-thaw cycles without affecting performance. Keeping the number of freeze-thaw cycles down as low as possible is always a good idea though. A good practice is for you to aliquot the contents of each ColonyGEL™ bottle into tubes with an appropriate working volume per tube the first time you thaw the bottle. We generally recommend aliquots of 4mL each, which is enough for triplicate cultures in 35mm dishes.

Are bulk discounts available if I buy multiple bottles of ColonyGEL™ at the same time?

Bulk discounts are available on a case by case basis and depend on the actual volume you intend to purchase. Please CONTACT US and let us know your volume requirements so we can generate an appropriate quotation for you.

Can I use ColonyGEL™ formulations that are optimized for one species to perform CFC assays using cells from a different species?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is usually “no”. Certain of the cytokines added to CFC assay media to support the growth of certain progenitors are exquisitely species specific. So if you don’t use the right media formulation for the species of cells you’re using, your CFC assays will not work. Always use the optimized formulation for the species of cells you are using.

How is ColonyGEL™ different from the current commercially available “gold standard“ methylcellulose-based media for CFC assays?

In a word: Price. We can’t deny that the industry leading methylcellulose-based media products are excellent and perform very well and usually very consistently. But have you noticed how expensive they are and how the price just seems to keep going up year after year? That’s a big problem these days when research budgets are limited. Switching to ColonyGEL™ can help to stretch your budget without sacrificing performance. We like to say that ColonyGEL™ gives you “gold standard” performance without the platinum coated pricing. Same formulations. Same performance. Same care taken in screening and selecting critical raw materials. With all other things being equal, it all comes down to how much extra you choose to pay for a brand name.

How does ColonyGEL™ compare to the current commercially available “gold standard“ methylcellulose-based media for CFC assays?

In our hands (and in the hands of numerous customers that have done their own comparisons), ColonyGEL™ meets or exceeds the performance of the current leading competitor’s media. You can download our Application Note that shows our comparison.