News Release

Independent validation of antibodies to improve research quality

Science Exchange partners with antibodies-online to independently validate commercial antibodies enabling researchers to choose high quality research reagents

Business Announcement

Science Exchange

Example Badge

image: Validated antibodies will receive a badge of reproducibility, viewable at antibodies-online.com. view more 

Credit: Science Exchange and antibodies-online

PALO ALTO, Calif. — July 30th, 2013 — Science Exchange, in partnership with the world's largest marketplace for antibodies, antibodies-online (http://www.antibodies-online.com), announced today the launch of a program to independently validate thousands of commercial antibodies via the Science Exchange independent validation service (http://www.scienceexchange.com/validation). This program will help scientists identify high quality antibodies, improving the quality of research results and preventing the waste of resources spent on ineffective antibodies.

"More than 70% of published research cannot be independently reproduced," said Dr. Elizabeth Iorns, Science Exchange's co-founder and CEO. "This has significant consequences for our ability to make scientific advances. One cause of this serious problem is the quality of reagents used in research studies. Our antibody validation program will directly tackle this problem, enabling scientists to identify independently validated antibodies that they can trust for their research."

The antibody validation program leverages Science Exchange's existing marketplace for scientific services, which contains a network of thousands of expert scientific experiment providers from top academic research institutes and commercial contract research organizations. "Our facilities are experts at specific experimental techniques. Using our network allows us to rapidly and cost effectively provide high quality independent validation of thousands of antibodies across a range of experimental techniques" said Dr. Iorns.

Antibodies submitted to the Science Exchange independent validation service are blindly matched with an appropriate, verified provider who validates the antibody for specific technical applications including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), western blot, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Upon completion, the full experimental methods and results are written up as a report and the antibody is identified using an "independently validated" badge with a unique identification number. This badge will be displayed beside independently validated antibodies on the antibodies-online website, enabling researchers to easily purchase trusted reagents from the antibodies-online marketplace.

"We believe researchers have the right to make purchasing decisions based on transparent information about a reagent's true performance ability", said Dr. David Kitz Kramer, head of customer service at antibodies-online.com. "antibodies-online.com will provide a unique resource where scientists can easily purchase independently validated antibodies that they can trust."

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antibodies-online suppliers can submit their reagents for validation at: http://www.scienceexchange.com/validation

Scientists can purchase independently validated antibodies at http://www.antibodies-online.com

Core facilities and CROs can join Science Exchange at: https://www.scienceexchange.com/signup

ABOUT SCIENCE EXCHANGE

Science Exchange (http://www.scienceexchange.com) is an online marketplace for scientific experiments. The Science Exchange network includes thousands of expert scientific experimental service providers including providers from 71 of the top 100 U.S research universities. The Science Exchange network is used to independently validate research reagents, results and methods to ensure accuracy and reproducibility. The company has been awarded by the Kauffman Foundation for entrepreneurship, and has received investment from Union Square Ventures, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Y Combinator and SV Angel.

ABOUT ANTIBODIES-ONLINE (ABO)

ABO (http://www.antibodies-online.com) is the largest marketplace for proteomic research products in the world, distributing more than one million products into 53 countries worldwide. ABO is building a transparent platform, where scientists can make an informed decision about what products to buy. ABO then delivers products directly to researcher labs, taking care of all transportation and customs issues. ABO offers a comprehensive technical pre- and post sales service performed by PhD Biologists with sufficient lab experience.

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Media Contact
Tess Mayall
Community Manager, Science Exchange
Tel: +1 855 467 2439 ext. 705
Email: tess@scienceexchange.com

Patrik von Glasow
Public Relations Manager, antibodies-online Inc.
Tel: +1 404 474 4654
Fax: +1 888 205 9894
Email: patrik.vonglasow@antibodies-online.com


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