A doubling of the above amount is also recommended, in case the sequencing reaction needs to be repeated due to unforeseen circumstances.

Do I have to provide primers (oligos)?
BATJ can provide common primers for free, such as M13F, M13R, T7, T3, and SP6. Customers should provide uncommon primers at a concentration of 10 micromolar (however, BATJ can dilute the concentration).  If needed, BATJ can order primers for customers directly from our partner company at reasonable cost.

What does BATJ mean by express delivery?
BATJ will complete and deliver express orders within 24 hours of notification. Weekends and holidays are included in express delivery.

Note that express delivery is not available year-round, due to the various circumstances of our staff.

Do I have to pay taxes for BATJ’s DNA sequencing services?
Customers do not have to pay taxes if the sequencing data is delivered through email, because services are not taxable according to the California State Board. However, if the customer needs the data on disk or other forms of non-electronic storage, or needs certain types of paperwork, taxes may occur. Products are taxable according to the California State Board.

How do I deliver samples?
Pickup of samples of five or more are free within the San Diego area, and delivery of results via e-mail are complimentary.

Orders from areas too far from our base of operations should be mailed through UPS or Federal Express for timely delivery. BATJ recommends that mailed samples should be dry, not dissolved in water, for optimal sample quality.

Please label the concentration of dry samples to ensure correct dilution by BATJ.

How will I receive the data?
Small orders may be sent to our customers through email. Before BATJ sends the data, check that your email has enough free space to receive the files. Larger orders will be delivered on Iomega zip disks or CDs to conserve precious Internet bandwidth.

What format will the files be in?
BATJ’s sequencing programs generate text files and electrophoregram files, either or both of which may be delivered to our customers.

Depending on the customer’s wishes, files may be delivered individually, or compressed as .zip (for PC) or .sit (for Macintosh). Freeware and shareware compression and decompression programs for both formats, on both platforms, exist at www.aladdinsys.com, www.pkware.com, or www.maczipit.com.

I do not have the necessary programs to read the files. Where do I get them?
If you do not have a commercial program (ABI Sequencing Analysis, for example) to read electrophoregram files, there are a few demo and freeware solutions available to open the files.

Technelysium Pty Ltd  has a product called Chromas, for Windows platforms. An older version of the program is free for download.

Gene Codes Corporation has a demo of their Sequencher program available for many platforms. However, the demo version lacks some features.

I have questions about your gene synthesis service.
BATJ's Gene Synthesis Page explains what the service includes, and what the company will provide.