There are several different types of media available for homogenizing samples, including both grinding beads and grinding balls. While grinding beads are a pool of beads within a given size range, grinding balls are spherical and precision ground to a specific diameter. OPS Diagnostics’ grinding beads are either zirconium silicate or silica (soda lime) and can be purchased in a variety of sizes and grades, in bulk bottles or dispensed into disruption tubes.

There are three grades of grinding beads are produced by OPS Diagnostics:

Acid Washed grinding beads: are washed with acid to remove small particles and contaminants from the media then oven dried and baked.

Low Binding grinding beads: are acid washed beads that have undergone an additional proprietary process that reduces the amount of non-specific binding to the surface of the beads.

Molecular Biology Grade grinding beads: are further processed and certified nucleic acid, DNase, RNase, and protease. For assays potentially sensitive to nucleases and contaminating nucleic acids.

Coated Silica grinding beads: are silica beads modified by the addition of functional groups (i.e., amine, sulfhydryl, C3, and C8) through the use of silane chemistry. These molecules can be covalently coupled to beads by various chemistries, or adsorbed to the modified surface.