Site Directed Mutagenesis Service vs. Site Directed Mutagenesis Kit
BioInnovatise Cloning Team
Updated December 28, 2023
In the fast-paced world of molecular biology research, the choice between DIY mutagenesis kits and professional mutagenesis services can significantly impact experimental timelines and outcomes. While both approaches aim to achieve the same goal – precise genetic modifications – they offer distinctly different paths to success. From specialized equipment requirements to expertise considerations, what factors should researchers weigh when deciding between these options? Our cloning team examines the crucial differences between mutagenesis kits and services, helping you navigate the choice that best serves your research goals.
How Can I Perform an Insertion Mutation, Deletion Mutation, or Point Mutation on My Plasmid DNA Construct? (What Is Site Directed Mutagenesis?)
Performing mutations on a plasmid DNA construct involves introducing changes to the nucleotide sequence. One technique, site directed mutagenesis, allows you to insert, delete, or make point mutations. Site directed mutagenesis also allows researchers to explore functional studies, gene expression and regulation, protein structure-function, disease modeling, recombinant DNA technology, mutant strains, and functional genomics. There are two main ways to go about the process: using a site directed mutagenesis kit or a site directed mutagenesis service.
Site directed mutagenesis kit: Some labs order site directed mutagenesis kits from vendors to perform in-house mutations. Kits can be used for insert mutation, delete mutation, and point mutation. As simple as this DIY kit may appear, there are several issues you may experience:
- Time Commitment: A site directed mutagenesis kit may require several days’—or even a week’s—worth of effort to complete, especially if you are designing the primers for your desired mutation. This means less time spent on important research tasks.
- Materials Required: Not all labs are equipped with the necessary materials and equipment that a site directed mutagenesis kit requires, such as a PCR thermal cycler, agarose gel electrophoresis, microcentrifuge, or shaking incubator. Site directed mutagenesis kits may have a smaller up-front cost, but the additional materials and equipment rental may increase the overall cost.
- Expertise: Site directed mutagenesis protocols may seem easy, yet with the techniques required for primer design, validation, and maintaining the highest integrity for your construct, experience is important if your research application requires a high-quality construct.
- DNA Yield: Depending on the final volume required for your application, you might need more than the 1–5 μg of plasmid DNA that your site directed mutagenesis kit produces. Additionally, your kit may not produce a plasmid construct with a high-level Nucleic Acid 260/280 Ratio, which means you have to buy a plasmid prep kit, which requires even more time and resources.
Site directed mutagenesis service: Many labs prefer to order site directed mutagenesis services from vendors like BioInnovatise to introduce the desired changes on their plasmid DNA construct. Outsourcing site directed mutagenesis saves you resources such as time and labor (not to mention headaches) and ensures that your lab will have the correct mutations for your research application. There are several benefits to ordering a site directed mutagenesis service with our team:
- Saving Time: Our cloning production team is able to produce your mutant construct in as few as seven days.
- Length of DNA Capabilities: Our cloning production team offers point mutations, insertions, and deletions on plasmid constructs up to 18 kb. Some kits cannot achieve this level.
- Expertise: Our team has produced more than 30,000 cloning constructs to date. We are confident we can deliver your production on time and to your requirements.
- Low Quantity Plasmid DNA Requirements: We only require 3 ug of wildtype plasmid DNA to begin your site directed mutagenesis.
- If You Need Larger Volumes Of Your Plasmid DNA, We Can Do That Too: Our quick turnaround plasmid DNA preparation production team is able to produce larger volumes of plasmid DNA in as few as seven days for plasmid midiprep, maxiprep, and large scale productions.
- Purity Standards: All of our plasmid prep productions achieve a level of 1.8 for Nucleic Acid 260/280 Ratio.
- Less Stress: Imagine being able to get the correct mutations on your plasmid DNA construct without having to worry about a kit, reading an impossible-to-understand protocol, or waiting for a customer support agent to respond to your technical questions. Your time is better spent focusing on research than performing site directed mutagenesis from a kit.
Site Directed Mutagenesis (Point/Substitution, Insertion, Deletion), Random Mutagenesis, and Site Saturation Overview
Our cloning team is excited to bring your project to life, so let’s get started! To begin, please provide the following when requesting a production:
- The complete sequence of the template (the target)
- Mutation specifications, including points, insertion, and deletion requirements
- Maps and antibiotic resistance of the template and destination vectors
- 3 µg of wildtype plasmid DNA
Learn more about our quick turnaround site directed mutagenesis services.
Precision medicine research and development progresses every day, and with it, the need for high-integrity mutant plasmid DNA.
Want to learn more about the latest in mutagenesis? Our colleagues at ScienceDirect, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News continuously collect and publish the latest information on genetic mutation research.
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