1.4 mm Acid Washed Zirconium Beads, 250 gm 

Zirconium beads, 1.4 mm, are useful for bead beating insects and small tissue samples to release nucleic acids and proteins.  These acid-washed zirconium beads are suitable for homogenizing bacterial cells and insects to mice and organ tissues.  To assess the number of colony forming units of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1.4 mm zirconium beads were used to disperse bacterial cells from colonies for phenazine transport studies.  In mouse tissues, the use of the beads increased quantification of antisense oligonucleotide levels, and biodistribution experiments to measure the fluorescence in the tissue homogenates at different time points post-injection to determine the localization and retention tracer molecules. Beads were also used to improve DNA yield from whitefly homogenization, which provided insights into the complex dynamics of cassava virus transmission.

Beads are ready-to-use, having been treated with acidified water to remove fine particles, dust, and other impurities typically found in untreated beads, and further baked to drive off organic impurities. This makes them suitable for a variety of laboratory applications, including those that require a high degree of purity in the homogenization process. Zirconium is denser than silica, yet less expensive than stainless steel.