shelf life of dNTPs at -20°C

[Richard P. Grant]

A similar question came up 2 or 3 years back on this froup.  It was about
freeze/thawing of oligos.

If you've got 18.3 grade water and you've worked under clean conditions, I can
think of no reason that oligos should go off - unless they've been
freeze-thawed.  They then tend to self-anneal and fold and do all sorts of
weird stuff.   The way to get them working again - and you might try this - is
to heat them to 95 - 99 C for a minute or three, then snap-chill on ice.

If your 4 yo aliquots have not been contaminated and have not been repeatedly
freeze-thawed, they should be fine.  I've used oligos that must have been 6
years old.

Sebastian Bunka wrote:
> 
> Michael Vagell <mv at doc.mssm.edu> wrote:
> > Does anyone know how long deoxynucleotides (dNTPs) can be stored at -20°
> > Celcius? I have some aliquots of deoxynucleotides that have been kept at
> > -20° C for four years. Are they still usable, or should I get some new ones?
> 

> I have some oligos stored diluted (50 pM/ul) and undiluted. They're from
> january 1993 and still work. Other oligos beeing stored diluted that are


-- 
Richard P. Grant MA DPhil  | Cambridge Molecular Technologies
Senior R&D Scientist       | rgrant at cmtech co uk
Tel: +44 1223 508345       | http://www.cmtech.co.uk/
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