Bead Beater Homogenizers

Bead beaters are an essential tool in any laboratory that needs to open cells and analyze the contents, whether DNA, RNA, protein, or analytes.  Using glass (silica) and zirconium beads, bead beating can be very effective and fast at cell lysis.  Traditionally bead beating was a bottleneck in sample preparation, but with the development of high throughput homogenizers, samples can be homogenized in 96 well plates. Bead beaters (formerly called mixer mills) are now designed that can process individual disruption tubes up to racks of tubes or even microwell plates.

Though simple in theory, bead beating can be quite complex as several factors must work together to effectively homogenize samples:

• The tube, or microwell plate, used in bead beating is not just a sample holder, but actively participates in the homogenization, 
• The stroke length of the amalgamator or mixer mill is also critical, as is the physical motion it imparts on the sample tube, 
• The selection of bead type, such as silica (glass) or ziroconium, or grinding balls used, normally made of stainless steel, is important, and 
• Finally, sample type, mass, volume, and extraction buffer all impact the effectiveness of the homogenization.

In choosing a bead beater, the number of samples processed simultaneously should be taken into consideration, especially for laboratories processing hundreds of samples daily.

For more information on the homogenizer's capabilities refer to our Bead Beating Guide's section on Bead Beaters.