How do I categorize my products?

In separate spreadsheets of an Excel workbook (or if that is not feasible, in a separate column) separate your products by broad category, or indicate which broad category your product belongs to. Having this data will help to speed up your file processing. Here are the broad categories to choose from, and, where needed, some additional information and examples:

• Animals

• Antibodies

• Arrays

• Assay Kit: Assay kits should be kits designed specifically for measuring or detecting an analyte. Bundles of chemicals, reagents, or biomolecules should be categorized accordingly.

• Biomolecule: An item that has a gene, target, peptide or protein is considered a Biomolecule. This item can be a standalone item or come in a kit configuration. Single nucleotides are considered chemicals and not biomolecules. Inhibitors will be cross posted into the Chemicals and Reagents category. Examples of biomolecules are: Proteins, peptides, enzymes, histones, carbohydrates and anything with a biological source.

• Cells & Strains: Living cells and strains should be placed in this category. Examples: Blood cells, bone marrow, fibroblasts, peripheral blood, virus…

• Chemicals & Reagents: Are all non-biomolecules; buffers, reagents, agarose powder, lone conjugates, substrates excluding cells, tissues, control material, inhibitors,....

• Chromatography & Separation: Beads, magnetic particles, cell isolation cocktails, resins, agarose resin...

• DNA

• Equipment: Should be true, stand alone equipment and not accessories such as power supplies. Any durable item of value that is not disposable, except for single use bioreactors, is equipment.

• Equipment Accessories:  Examples are power supplies. Our working definition of an accessory is anything that you cannot plug into 1) a power supply, 2) a gas supply or 3) a vacuum hose and immediately put to use. If anything needs to be purchased in order for the item to work, it is an accessory.

• RNA

• Services

• Software

• Supplies & Consumables: Should be tubes, plates, slides, and ancillary items. Examples: Magnets, RNA gels, agarose IEF plates, etc.

• Blood & Tissue Products: Anything that is dead and is disease related should be placed in this category. Examples would be: Saliva, skin, serums, urine, feces, blood plasma, tissue and cell lysates, cell line specific lysates, and tissues that are preserved in blocks, powders or slides.