There are two ways of ordering:

1. The preferred way is order transmission through our Web Order Portal for most convenient online shopping (please refer here for further details).
2. You can order by sending us an e-mail at oligo@metabion.com with our pre-formatted excel order file as attachment. Download respective Order Form.
   

When you write your e-mail, please make sure to include the following required information in the excel template:

1. Name of the oligo/s.
2. Sequence of the oligo/s in 5’-3’ orientation. Please indicate any PTO-bond using a star (*).
3. Yield range.
4. Purification required.
5. Delivery form (dry/in water/buffer + concentration).
6. Modifications (2'-O-Methyl RNA and 5-Methyl-dC can be selected here).

If you are a new customer, please additionally provide us with:

1. Your shipping and billing address.
2. Any other information like Purchase Order number, VAT number (VAT only for customers resident in the EU), etc.

In case you choose to transmit orders via e-mail using your own format(s), we need to alert you that above mentioned information in bold print is obligatory for processing your order. Due to extra efforts necessary for individual order format transfer into our system, order processing will take longer as compared to preferred web orders and pre-formatted e-mails. Please note that only files updated to the latest excel/word version (e.g. .xlsx or .docx) are accepted.

How can you convert files to newer formats?
Open the file in a recent Office program and save the file in a newer format. For this go to “File” → “Save as” and choose the newer format from the “Save as type” dropdown menu.

If you want to connect your eProcurement System with our Web Order Portal (e.g. OCI - Open Catalog Interface), please simply contact our Customer Service (customerservice@metabion.com).

Unmodified standard oligos (≤33 bases) ordered before 6 pm German time will be shipped the next working day. HPLC purified, longer and modified oligos need an additional working day to be ready for shipping. Shipping time within Europe does normally not exceed 1 day. For countries outside of Europe, please inquire.

If it happens that an oligo does not pass our in-house quality control, it needs to be resynthesized. In those cases we have to apologize a 1–2 days increase of shipping time.

Scale of synthesis refers to the amount of starting Controlled-Pore Glass (CPG) support-bound monomer used to initiate the DNA synthesis, not the amount of final material synthesized. This is the same for all manufacturers of synthetic DNA using standard phosphoramidite chemistry. When a 40 nmole scale synthesis is specified, approximately 40 nmoles of the first base is added to the DNA synthesizer. For an average 25-mer, at least 25% of this starting material will result in failure sequences. Hence it is not possible to produce 40 nmoles of full-length product from a 40 nmole scale synthesis. The losses occur during synthesis, post-synthetic processing, transfer of material, and quality control.

Final yield is the actual amount that we guarantee to deliver.

Please note that OD₂₆₀  values are a measure of total nucleotides´ optical density. Hence, neither purity nor amount of ordered substance are transparently reflected. For simplification and exemplification reasons look at the following:

1 OD of the 20mer 5´CAT CGT ATT CGA TGC TAC GT 3´

translates into approximately 5 nmol.

1 OD of the 40mer 5´CAT CGT ATT CGA TGC TAC GT CAT CGT ATT CGA TGC TAC GT 3´

translates into approximately 2.5 nmol.

Therefore, a 1 OD guaranteed amount of delivered product can vary significantly, while metabion´s commitment to delivered yields in nmol does not allow for ambiguity in terms of what you expect and pay for.

For oligos of standard length (≤ 33 nucleotides) we guarantee a certain yield of DNA (OD₂₆₀ applying to a 20-mer) to be delivered according to the respective scale of synthesis and mode of purification.

Our standard custom DNA portfolio features 4 synthesis scales with guaranteed yield expressed in ODs:

To gain a maximum shelf life for oligonucleotides, samples should generally be stored dehydrated at ≤ –15 °C in absence of light. Under the mentioned conditions, samples are stable for at least 6 months. In case of a longer storage period, oligos should be pretested for molecular integrity prior to experimental use. If stored frozen at –20 °C or –70 °C, it will remain stable for several months. Repeated freeze-thaw should be avoided, as this will denature the oligo. Moreover, the oligo stability in solution depends on the pH. Dissolving oligos into acidic solutions may result in oligo degradation. Therefore, avoid the use of distilled water, since solution pH may be as low as 4-5.

In addition to what above advised, we recommend that you minimize the exposure of modified oligonucleotides– especially those fluorescently labelled - to light, to avoid any bleaching effect.
Moreover, we recommend storing dye-labelled oligos highly concentrated and not in working dilutions, if you are not planning to use them within 24 hours. The higher the dilution factor, the faster the fluorescent activity fades away. Therefore, try to store highly concentrated aliquots frozen, thaw them only once, dilute them just before use and store the aliquots at 4 °C in the dark.

Please note, that for custom made products an order/item cancellation or modification free of charge is only granted within a grace period of 30 minutes from the air date of this confirmation in order to guarantee fast delivery times.

For "off-the-shelf" products, cancellation/modification of orders/items is also accepted within a grace period of 30 minutes from the air date of the respective order confirmation.

Later cancellations/modifications are principally non-refundable, however a partial refund might be possible depending on the status of order processing. We will inform you accordingly.

Any cancellation/modification of an order needs to be notified in writing. If you've ordered via our Web Ordering Portal, you can cancel by visiting your order history.

If you've ordered via e-mail, you can send us an e-mail to cancellationnotification@mymetabion.com with the subject "cancel N230502-079".

Please send any other questions or requests to our customerservice at customerservice@mymetabion.com.

The label on the oligo tube shows basic information like oligo name, name of person who ordered, oligo sequence including modifications, oligo ID, amount of DNA (OD₂₆₀ and nmol), Tm, and molecular weight.
In addition, you will receive a synthesis report containing more detailed information on the physical-chemical properties of the oligo, such as base composition, base count, purification grade, amount of DNA (OD₂₆₀ and nmol), Tm and molecular weight. If you have ordered HPLC purification or your ordered oligo is HPLC purified by default (e.g. Dual labeled oligos, dual modified oligos, mid- and large scale oligos), you will also get a printout of the preparative chromatogram.

While each and every oligo produced and delivered is characterized by either MALDI- or ESI-ToF before release, Mass-Check documentation/spectra will only be provided if requested at time of order placement. Additional charges may apply. The following terminology is used for differentiating between offered QC options including respective documentation coverage in our order forms and on supporting documents delivered with the products:

Mass Check
Standard quality control performed on each and every oligo. Either MALDI- or ESI-ToF, subject to the "nature of the oligo", and metabion internal procedures. This service is free of charge and no printout/PDF documentation is provided.

MALDI-ToF
Explicitly ordered and performed MALDI-ToF check. Product delivered with MALDI-ToF spectra. Additional charges apply.

ESI-ToF
Explicitly ordered and performed ESI-ToF check. Product delivered with ESI-ToF spectra. Additional charges apply.

Mass Check + Analytical HPLC
Explicitly ordered and performed Mass Check (MALDI-ToF or ESI-ToF subject to the "nature of the oligo" and metabion internal procedures) and Analytical HPLC (see FAQ "What is the difference between preparative and analytical HPLC?"). Product delivered with analytical HPLC and MS spectra. Additional charges apply.

This depends on the complexity (length, base composition, modifications) of your requested molecule, as well as on the application desired. Failure sequences may be generated both during and post-synthesis. Due to the nature of synthesis chemistry (coupling efficiency < 100%) and/or post-synthetic modification procedures, there will remain failure sequences (n-x), free modifiers and non-labeled product in the "crude" unpurified product.

We strongly recommend that all modified oligos and oligos longer than 80 nucleotides are subjected to High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) purification, no matter which kind of downstream application is envisaged.

For "critical" applications like gene synthesis, subcloning, mutagenesis and alike, HPLC purification should be considered for oligos > 45 nucleotides.

HPLC purification is standard (no additional charge) for all our dual-labeled probes and/or multi-labeled oligos, as well as for all our RNA and large scale oligos.

The real answer lies in the resolution limit of the purification method and on the coupling efficiency of the DNA synthesizer. We can synthesize DNA oligos of 220 bases and obtain sufficient quantities by HPLC purification to perform successful gene construction. However, it should be remembered that the longer the oligo, the greater the chance of accumulated sequence errors.

Coupling efficiency is the factor that mainly affects the length of DNA that can be synthesized. Base composition and synthesis scales will also be contributing factors. For more information regarding coupling efficiency, please refer to the FAQ "What is coupling efficiency?".

Importantly, the probability of premature synthesis interruption increases dramatically for longer oligos, due to poor nucleotide-coupling efficiency. Moreover, the synthesis of special “long oligos” requires more raw material, such as amidites and solutions that need to be used in higher excess.

However, as we are very experienced in producing very long oligos, do not hesitate to discuss your projects with our specialists.