Blue Light Transilluminators, Blue Green Transilluminators, UV Transilluminators, White Light Transilluminators and More!

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We offer a wide selection of blue light transilluminators that are designed to match the needs of the researcher and at a reasonable price. In addition to blue light transilluminators, you can select from the new blue/green transilluminators, traditional UV transilluminators, or white light transilluminators.

A blue light transilluminator is often used as an alternative to a UV transilluminator when users wish to use ‘safe dyes’ instead of Ethidium Bromide. A blue light transilluminator is a ‘safe’ light source, in that the user is not exposed to harmful UV radiation and samples are free from photo-nicking.

For researchers working with nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) or protein gels (Coomassie, silver stain) gels, these systems offer a great value and price. Our illuminators allow you to visualize your gels on the bench and, if needed, cut bands.

When to use a blue light transilluminator?

Blue light transilluminators can be used in science laboratories for the following purposes:

• Visualize bands on gel electrophoresis DNA or RNA gels stained with "safe" stains.
  
• Visualization of GFP bacterial colonies.
• Agarose gel excision.
  

When to use a UV transilluminator?

• Gel electrohoresis band visualization for DNA or DNA gels stained with Ethidium bromide.
• Agarose gel excision. Make sure to wear a face shield. 

When to use a white light transilluminator?

• Visualization of non-fluorescent stained nucleic acid or protein gels. The most common stains are Coomassie blue stain and Silver stain.
• Visualization of non-fluorescent bacterial colonies in agar.
• Visualization of autoradiograpghs (autorad), X-ray film, multiwell plates with visible stain.

FAQs

1. What is the price of a Blue Light Transilluminator, UV Transilluminator, or white light transilluminator? This depends on your needs and requirements. A blue light transilluminator for mini gels will cost ~$600.00. If you are working with large format gels, costs for these systems can approach $1,000.00.
   
   UV transilluminators can also range in price based  on imaging area requirements, wavelength requirements (dual or single wavelength), and application needs. For example, we offer the FirstLight UV transilluminator, which is designed specifically for labs that plan to perform imaging and image analysis of DNA gels. This system is designed to provide extremely uniform distribution of light, making it ideal for this application. This system costs ~$3,000.00. Typically, UV transilluminators cost between $850.00 to $1,750.00.
   
   White light transilluminators typically cost between $500.00 to $1,000.00.
   
   
2. What is the wavelength range for a blue light transilluminator? Most blue light transilluminators have a wavelength range of ~470 nanometers (nm).This excitation wavelength is optimal for "safe" stains such as SYBR Safe, GelGreen, MaestroSafe, SmartGlow, etc. You can also excite Ethidium bromide stained gels using the secondary excitation peak. However, it is suboptimal. 
   
   
3. What is the wavelength for the blue/green transilluminators? The wavelength for blue/green transilluminators is 505nm. Blue/Green transilluminators are a newer transilluminator and tend to work well for both "safe" stains and Ethidium bromide. This systems are ideal for labs that have scientists using both of these stains.
   
   
4. What is the wavelength range for UV transilluminators? Typically, there are three wavelengths that are commonly found in UV transilluminators: 254nm (shortwave or UVC), 302nm (midwave or UVB), and 365nm (longwave or UVA). UV transilluminators are sold as single wavelength, dual or even triple wavelength systems.
   
   
5. What dyes are used for blue light transilluminators? Typically: SYBR Safe, GelGreen, MaestroSafe, SmartGlow, SYBR Gold, and Promega Diamond. As long as the excitation peak is ~470nm and the emission peak is ~530nm, it should work with blue light excitation.
   
   
6. What dyes are used for UV transilluminators? Usually Ethidium bromide (EB) or GelRed works with UV transilluminators.
   
   
7. Will GelRed work with a blue light transilluminator? No.

As always, we are here to help you select the system that best fits your needs.  Contact us if you have any questions. Feel free to take a look at our selection of blue light transilluminators, blue green transilluminators, UV transilluminators and white light transilluminators.