StudiesTaq DNA Polymerase: Profile of an Indispensable Reagent As the engine that fuels the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), one of the most important inventions in molecular biology, Taq DNA polymerase has transformed how life science research is conducted. This powerful technique for DNA amplification relies on the amazing processivity of the DNA polymerase enzyme from the thermaphilic bacterium, Thermus aquaticus (Taq DNA polymerase). Because its enzymes are thermostable, the bacterium thrives in blistering hot environments. The thermostability of Taq DNA polymerase is the critical feature that facilitated the development of PCR and ensured its venerated status. Based on a 28-question study of over 600 researchers, The Science Advisory Board examined what factors scientists consider when they are deciding which supplier’s Taq DNA polymerase to use. The report also profiles the top suppliers of Taq DNA Polymerase and what product attributes contribute to their popularity. Since March 28, 2005, researchers in the United States no longer need a license to practice the basic PCR amplification process, which was covered by U.S. Patents 4,683,195, 4,683,202 and 4,965,188. This much anticipated opportunity has opened the door for an influx of suppliers hoping to provide Taq DNA polymerase to scientists for this specific application without the associated royalty burden. Scientists are looking for a guide to the navigating the Taq DNA polymerase market:
Once Taq DNA polymerase has been incorporated into a scientist’s toolbox, it likely remains there for many years, if not for their entire research career. In fact, 33% of Science Advisory Board members profiled have been using Taq DNA polymerase for more than 10 years in their research. Because PCR is extremely sensitive, it requires only tiny amounts of biological starting material. This efficiency, combined with its unsurpassed ability to amplify DNA or cDNA templates, has made the technique ubiquitous in almost every basic research laboratory: 91% and 83% of respondents from academia and government, respectively use Taq DNA polymerase for basic research. In contrast, its utilization by the industrial segment has been much broader and includes such diverse applications as genetic identity testing, forensics, and in vitro diagnostics. In this study, equal proportions of industrial respondents use Taq polymerase for both basic research (35%) and drug discovery and development research (37%). A greater percentage of industrial respondents (16%) perform molecular diagnostics research with Taq polymerase than either governmental (9%) or academic (3%) respondents. In aggregate, respondents identified Invitrogen, Applied Biosystems and Promega as the leading suppliers of Taq DNA polymerase. The primary reason many respondents decide to purchase Taq DNA polymerase from their current supplier is familiarity, i.e., they are already using the product. Academic scientists tend to be more influenced by unit pricing than industrial or governmental scientists. In contrast, industrial and governmental scientists are likely to be swayed by a combination of factors including: favorable unit pricing, ease by which the product can be obtained from the supplier and the use of related products from the same supplier. To better understand what factors contribute to satisfaction with the different Taq DNA polymerase brands scientists use, a statistical analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the importance of a product’s attributes and the respondent’s overall satisfaction. In general, academic, industrial and governmental respondents value their brand of Taq DNA polymerase’s lot-to-lot consistency, unit concentration and yield. Industrial respondents also appreciate their supplier’s protocol clarity while governmental respondents are happy with their product’s buffer formulation. The only critical area of lower satisfaction that bears noting is industrial respondents’ disappointment with pack sizes There is a wide range of different prices respondents perceive to pay per unit of Taq DNA polymerase ranging from a low of $0.05 to $0.10 to a high of $0.51 to $1.00. The mean price per unit for academic respondents is $0.30, for industrial respondents is $0.25 and for governmental respondents is $0.35. These mean values correlate with current list prices of the major suppliers and likely include a discount. “Being a young investigator, it is rather stressful to budget for reagents. So any progress that can be made to reduce cost of essential enzymes will allow myself as well as other investigators to explore more areas of research. This reduction will play a role in the success of young investigators since we will be able to do more cutting edge experiments.” -Postdoctoral Fellow, New York To determine how responsive demand would be to a change in price, respondents were asked if the price they paid for Taq DNA polymerase were at least 20% lower how would the number of reactions they perform change. The majority of respondents indicated that they would not perform more reactions. Those respondents that would increase the number of reactions they performed would do so by 10% to 20%. This inelasticity, i.e., demand hardly changing with a drop in price, is likely due to respondents’ slowness in changing their buying habits rather than price insensitivity or lack of competitors. Scientists tend to be conservative when considering ramping up their experiments unless a specific need--based upon a specific line of inquiry--arises. “Cheap Taq polymerase might have an appeal for academic investigators or scientists which use massive amounts of Taq. On the other hand, in an industrial R&D environment price is not usually an issue. The most important thing is to finish a project before deadline at a reasonable cost. That is probably why I saw a tendency in industrial environment to use most expensive, highest quality Taq (and other reagents) from a reputable supplier, because scientists want to get the project going without having to deal with the use of cheaper but potentially troublesome reagents.” -Staff Scientist, Maryland To find out how more about your colleagues' experience with taq DNA, please click here. At the end of the study, an Amazon.com gift certificate was awarded to one of the study participants. To learn more access the news article. [ View Current & Future Studies ] [ View Past Studies ] |
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