DNA-formulated tubes contain a chaotropic or non-chaotropic preservative. This stabilises the double-stranded genome without refrigeration, but it does not inactivate RNases. RNA-formulated tubes include RNase inhibitors or immediate lysis reagents. These protect single-stranded RNA from degradation within seconds of collection, which is critical for transcriptomics or miRNA profiling from saliva or blood.
Sample Preparation
Sample Collection & Preservation Reagents
Sample collection and preservation tubes that stabilise RNA and DNA without cold chain
Nucleic acids in your saliva, urine, stool, blood, and swab specimens start degrading within hours at room temperature once collected. Collection and preservation devices inactivate nucleases at the point of collection, as soon as your sample enters the tube. RNA and DNA stay stable at ambient temperature for extended periods, so you can ship samples without dry ice.
Non-invasive saliva collection formats are designed for self-administered collection by your participants. This makes them well suited to your large-cohort studies and home-sampling programmes. Swab collection tubes preserve microbial and human nucleic acids from nasal, buccal, saliva, faecal, skin or surface samples.
For liquid-biopsy workflows, cell-free DNA and RNA preservative tubes stabilise circulating nucleic acids from whole blood, before plasma separation. You do not need to centrifuge the sample at the collection site.
CE-IVD-marked tube formats, meeting EU Directive 98/79/EC, are available for regulated diagnostic workflows. Confirm the intended use and regulatory status for the specific product and jurisdiction.
Stool collection and transport tubes maintain microbiota DNA profiles for your gut-health and microbial-community analysis. Exosome-compatible saliva collection formats preserve exosomal integrity alongside nucleic acid content, supporting combined extracellular vesicle and genomic analysis from your single sample.
How to Choose
- Sample type drives device selection. For stool or faecal samples, choose a collection and transport tube system. For urine DNA, RNA or microbial nucleic-acid analysis, choose a urine collection and preservation system for ambient-temperature preservation for up to two years. For saliva, choose a DNA-formulated or RNA-formulated collection device based on your downstream target. Both formats work for your home use without clinical assistance. For swab samples (nasal, buccal, rectal), use swab collection and nucleic acid preservation tubes.
- Nucleic acid target. If your downstream assay targets DNA (genotyping, SNP analysis), choose a DNA-formulated preservative. If your target is RNA (transcriptomics, miRNA, viral RNA), use an RNA-stabilising collection format. Stool collection tubes preserve both DNA and RNA from microbial communities.
- Diagnostic vs. research use. CE-IVD-marked tube formats are available for regulated diagnostic workflows under EU Directive 98/79/EC. Confirm the intended use and regulatory status for the specific product and jurisdiction. Research-use-only formats are available for your non-regulated studies at any sample volume.
- Liquid biopsy workflows. For circulating cell-free DNA or RNA from your blood, use cell-free preservative tubes. These stabilise the specimen without centrifugation, typically for 7 to 14 days at ambient temperature and up to 30 days in Norgen's cf-DNA/cf-RNA Preservative Tubes, removing logistical barriers in multi-site clinical trials.
Applications
Remote and home-based biobanking
Ambient-temperature tubes let you collect saliva, stool, swab, and blood samples at home, then post them to the lab without cold-chain logistics.
Liquid biopsy and cfDNA studies
For circulating cell-free DNA and RNA from whole blood, use Norgen's dedicated cfDNA/cfRNA preservative tubes, which stabilise nucleic acids for up to 30 days at 15 to 25 degrees C ahead of your extraction workflow.
Microbiome research
Stool stabilisation reagents lyse microbial cells at collection and block DNase activity, preserving community composition ahead of your nucleic acid purification.
Multi-site clinical trials
Standardised collection conditions across sites cut inter-site variability, a common source of confounding in your nucleic acid biomarker studies.
Pathogen surveillance
Swab tubes preserve microbial and viral nucleic acids from your nasal, buccal, and vaginal samples at ambient temperature for research-scale surveillance work.
Extracellular vesicle research
Exosome-compatible blood, urine and saliva tubes preserve exosomal integrity alongside nucleic acids, enabling combined EV analysis and genomic profiling from one sample.
Frequently asked questions
Cell-free nucleic-acid preservative tubes are designed to reduce blood-cell degradation and the release of intracellular nucleic acids during storage and transport. The exact preservation chemistry differs between manufacturers and products. For Norgen cf-DNA/cf-RNA Preservative Tubes, the preservative is non-formaldehyde and fixative-free.
CE-IVD marking under EU In Vitro Diagnostic Directive 98/79/EC (now transitioning to EU IVDR 2017/746) shows the device has been assessed for analytical performance, safety, and labelling standards required for clinical diagnostic use in Europe. Research-use-only (RUO) tubes carry no such regulatory assessment and are intended for non-regulated studies, though their chemistry may be identical to the CE-IVD version.
Using a DNA-formulated tube for RNA targets risks RNase-mediated degradation during transit, because the stabiliser does not address RNA secondary structure or enzymatic degradation. RNA tubes, on the other hand, may alter DNA fragment size distribution through their lysis chemistry. Always match the tube chemistry to the downstream nucleic acid target and the specific assay requirements listed in the tube manufacturer's product insert.
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