The BULLET BLENDER enables you to homogenize, disrupt, or lyse up to 24 tissue or cell culture samples at a time. Load the samples into standard polypropylene tubes, then place them in the BULLET BLENDER. The "bullets" in the instrument vigorously strike all of the tubes and homogenize your sample in minutes. NEW! The Bullet Blender is now available with Dry Ice Cooling to keep your samples at 4°C

Consistent and High Yield Results

The BULLET BLENDER prepares up to 24 samples in just minutes. All of the samples are automatically homogenized in the same manner, with high yields, so there is very little variation from sample to sample. See the Protocols pages for preparation times and speeds.

No Cross-Contamination or Sample Loss

There are no probes or blades to cause cross contamination or sample loss, which also means there are no parts to clean between runs. The sample tubes are kept closed and self-contained during homogenization.

Samples Stay COOL

No cool down required. The instrument uses very little power due to the unique, patented design, so there is very little heat build up in the instrument or inside the sample tubes. It uses a small DC motor to agitate the individual tubes. Also, because the motor does not need to agitate any heavy platforms or plates, it is small and will last for years.

Easiest To Use

Simply place your sample, beads and buffer in standard tubes, and load the tubes into the BULLET BLENDER. Tune the extent of disruption by adjusting the run time and speed. Afterwards, place the sample tubes in a centrifuge to separate the lysate. No special holders are needed. There are no clamp plates nor locking rings to fiddle with.

Bullet Blenders come in models for 1.5 - 2.0 mL microcentrifuge tubes, 5 mL sample tubes, and 50 mL sample tubes. Features differentiating the models include extra powerful motors, additional sound insulation, Air Cooling which forces ambient air past the sample tubes, and Dry Ice Cooling which keeps samples at 4°C within a degree or two.

1.5 mL models

1.5 mL tube models handle up to 24 samples at a time, samples up to 300 mg. Maximum fill volume of 1.2 mL. Uses 1.5 mL Eppendorf® Safe-LockT tubes.

Regular model BBX24 is a high throughput homogenizer. Model BBX24W uses 1.5 mL Axygen or Corning screw cap tubes. Blue model, BBX24B, has the features of the regular model, plus Air Cooling to keep tubes near the ambient temperature. Model BBX24BW uses 1.5 mL Axygen or Corning screw cap tubes.

Storm model, BBY24M, has Blue model features plus extra power for processing lots of tough samples.
Gold model, BB24-AU, has Storm features, plus Dry Ice Cooling to keep samples at 4°C and additional sound insulation - enough so that you can have conversations without raising your voice.

5 mL tube model The 5 mL tube model handles up to 12 samples at a time, samples up to 1 g. Maximum fill volume of 3 mL. Uses 5 mL polypropylene skirted screw-cap tubes. Storm model, BBY5M, has extra power for processing lots of tough samples and Air Cooling to keep samples near ambient temperature.

50 mL tube models
50 mL tube models handle up to 8 samples at a time, samples up to 3.5 g. Maximum fill volume of 20 mL. Uses 50 mL polypropylene skirted screw-cap tubes.

DX model, BB50-DX, has extra power for processing lots of tough samples and additional sound insulation.
Gold model, BB50-AU, has features of DX model plus Dry Ice Cooling to keep samples at 4°C.

Features:

Compact - The footprint is only 9 in. (22 cm) wide by 11 in. (28 cm) deep. The BB50-DX, BB24-AU and BB50-AU models are 18 in. (46 cm) wide by 14 in. (35 cm) deep. High Throughput

User friendly with only two settings to select: time and speed (intensity) The time of the run may be adjusted from 1-5 minutes (15 minutes for the Bullet Blender Blue 50). The Bullet Blender will automatically stop after the selected time is up. The Bullet Blender has 10 speeds, easily selectable from a front-panel control. This wide array of speeds allows the Bullet Blender® to be used for gentle vortexing, vigorous homogenization, or anything in between.

Versatile - The Bullet Blender can be used in temperatures ranging from 4°C to 60°C (avoid condensation, which will damage electronics and void the warranty). Requires only an electrical outlet for operation.

Shipped with the proper plug configuration for your wall outlets.
CE certified instruments with upgraded electronics available. Air CoolingT on "BLUE" models prevents samples from heating up when processing multiple rounds. Dry Ice CoolingT keeps samples at 4°C. The COOLEST homogenizer available!

30 day money back guarantee

2 year warranty

Made in the USA

Common questions regarding the Bullet Blender

How is the Bullet Blender different from other high-throughput homogenizers on the market?
The Bullet Blender is similar to other Bead Mill Style homogenizers in that it processes each sample in its own tube using homogenization beads. Therefore, there is no chance of cross-contamination and there are no parts that need cleaning after each sample. A unique feature of the Bullet Blender is the way it agitates the sample tubes. Other homogenizers vigorously shake the sample tubes. This requires a great deal of energy and these instruments tend to be very large (because of the motor), expensive (many are 2 -3 times the cost of the Bullet Blender) and require cooling cycles due to motor heating - this can take a lot of time away from experiments. The Bullet Blender, on the other hand, uses a patented striking method to agitate tubes. This requires a much smaller motor and generates much less heat. Therefore the Bullet Blender is smaller, lighter, and less expensive than competitor's equipment while working just as well. The Bullet Blender can also be used in a cold room unlike many of the other instruments on the market.

What types of tubes can be used?

The Bullet Blender Storm works with 1.5ml Eppendorf® Safe-Lock tubes. The Bullet Blender and Bullet Blender Blue work with 1.5 mL, 1.7 mL, and 2.0 mL polypropylene sample tubes, including conical and round bottom microcentrifuge snap-cap tubes. We recommend Eppendorf® Safe-Lock tubes. When using 2ml tubes in the the Bullet Blender® or the Bullet Blender Blue we recommend using a minimum of 2 tubes per homogenization cycle. The screw cap models use Axygen® and Corning® 1.5 ml screw cap tubes. The Bullet Blender Blue 5 units work with 5ml Axygen brand screw top transport tubes. The Bullet Blender 50-DX units work with 50 mL skirted (self-standing) polypropylene tubes, such as Axygen brand or Corning brand. The slightly hazy polypropylene tubes are tougher and resist the striking better than the clearer tubes, which might crack at higher speeds. Use high quality tubes, rather than bargain brand tubes which are not as strong.

How do you set the Bullet Blender to mix, disrupt, or homogenize different types of samples?

You can adjust the speed and the duration. Adjusting the speed affects how firmly the balls will strike the sample tubes, while adjusting the duration affects the total number of impacts. Homogenizing tough tissue requires longer durations at full speed, while mixing requires lower speeds.

How easy is it to operate the Bullet Blender?

Simply place up to 24 sample tubes in the holders, set the desired duration and speed, and push start. All the samples will be processed simultaneously, without any chance of cross contamination.

How much volume of sample can be homogenized in each microcentrifuge tube?

For the BBX24 model Bullet Blenders, we recommend using 10-300mg of tissue in a standard microcentrifuge tube. Less than 10mg will work, but it requires careful attention to the amount of beads and volume of homogenization buffer. As with any experiment, errors become larger as the measured quantity gets smaller, so reproducibility becomes an issue. Samples larger than 300mg are not recommended. The air volume inside the tube is critical to allow the sample to be ground up inside the tube, so if the tube is more than 75% full, the efficiency of the homogenization is reduced. The 5 mL tubes can hold up to about 1 g of sample tissue or cultured cells, and a total of 3.5 mL of sample, buffer, and beads combined. The 50 mL tubes can hold up to about 3.5 g of sample tissue or cultured cells, and a total of 20 mL of sample, buffer, and beads combined.

Do sample tubes need to be placed symmetrically?

No. There are no restrictions as to which holes to place your sample tubes in, however you may get better results if you space them apart as evenly as possible.

How do you retrieve the sample from the tubes?



After the Bullet Blender stops, centrifuge the tubes to clarify the lysate prior to use in your molecular biology applications.

Which beads should I use?

The protocols page contains suggested beads, speeds, and durations for processing many types of tissues and cells. The Bullet Blender beads page has a bead selection table. The two basic rules for bead selection: (1) use denser beads for tougher samples, and (2) use beads of a comparable size to the size of your samples to maximize the effectiveness of collisions between beads and samples. For example, if you wanted to lyse bacterial cells with a soft membrane, use small glass beads. If you want to homogenize larger pieces of tough tissue, use large steel beads.

Price:

For more information on Bullet Blender pricing, please click the desired model:

• Bullet Blender Gold, model number BB24-AU list price is now EUR 5843
• Bullet Blender Gold CE, model number BB24-AU-CE list price is now EUR 5950
• Bullet Blender 50 Gold, model number BB50-AU list price is now EUR 6895
• Bullet Blender 50 Gold CE, model number BB50-AU-CE list price is now EUR 6635