Process
Five stages, one date, no surprises in week three.
The schedule below is the one we quote against. The most important stage is the small-scale test in the middle — it is where problems surface while they are still cheap to fix.
1working day
Typical time to a quote
21working days
E. coli, sequence to vial
31working days
CHO, sequence to vial
Free
Route recommendation before you order
The schedule
Where the time actually goes.
Both routes run the same four stages. Mammalian expression is longer in exactly one of them — the culture and the purification that follows it — which is where the extra 10 working days go, rather than into queueing.
Stage by stage
What happens between your email and the vial.
Each stage below is a decision point, not just a step. The one that matters most is the third.
Before day 0
Quote and route recommendation
You send a sequence and a rough brief. We come back — usually within one working day — with a recommended expression system, a fixed price and a delivery date.
- We say if we think your target is a poor fit, before you pay
- NDA signed first if you would rather not share sequences openly
- The price is fixed at this point and does not move unless the brief changes
Days 1–8
Construct design, synthesis and cloning
Codon optimisation for the chosen host, construct boundaries, an N-terminal His-tag and a cleavage strategy if you want one, then gene synthesis and cloning. Every construct is sequence-verified before it goes anywhere near a culture.
- Skipped if you supply a validated plasmid — that route runs 10 working days
- One tag, always on the N-terminus — we tell you at the quote stage if that does not suit your assay
- You get the final construct map
Days 9–12
Small-scale expression test
Before committing your budget to a full culture, we check that the protein expresses and lands in the soluble fraction. Where it does not, this is the cheap point to change temperature, induction method or construct boundaries.
- Solubility screened across conditions rather than assumed
- If the target looks unsalvageable, we tell you here — not after the full run
Days 13–19
Production culture and purification
The 1 L culture, then IMAC capture and size-exclusion polishing. For mammalian runs this stage is longer, which is where the extra 10 working days go.
- Buffer chosen to suit your assay if you tell us what it is
- Purity assessed as we go, not just at the end
Days 20–21
QC, then it ships
Gel, concentration, size-exclusion profile, a batch record — and endotoxin on bacterial runs — sent as a package with the material. Frozen aliquots on dry ice, tracked courier, next day within the EU.
- Data arrives with the protein, not a week later
- Aliquot sizes to your specification so you are not freeze-thawing the whole batch
What we need from you
Four things, and only the first is mandatory.
Questions
Common questions about the schedule
What counts as "day 0"?
The day we have everything we need to start: an accepted quote, the sequence, and a signed NDA if you asked for one. We tell you the date explicitly in the quote rather than leaving it to interpretation.
What if you miss the date?
We tell you as soon as we know, not on the delivery date. Biology occasionally refuses to cooperate and pretending otherwise helps nobody — but a missed date should come with an explanation and a revised plan, and that is on us.
Can I get updates during the run?
Yes. You get a note at the expression test — the point where we know whether the project is going well — and you can ask at any time. We would rather tell you about a problem in week one than present it as a surprise in week three.
Do you keep my construct afterwards?
Only if you ask us to. By default we destroy remaining material and constructs at project close. If you want the plasmid shipped to you, or held for a repeat order, say so and we will note it on the project.
Can you repeat a batch later?
Yes, and it is faster and cheaper the second time because the construct and conditions are already established. Batch records are kept so a repeat is genuinely a repeat.
Send us a sequence.
A rough description and a deadline are enough to get a fixed price and a delivery date. We normally reply within one working day.