For people interested in using Sigma reagents in plant tissue culture
don't give up. They are a large company and give excellent customer
service IMHO, but they just want to limit their liability. As a for
instance, during the late 1980's the chemical dextran sulfate was
reported to cure/improve the condition of AIDS patients. Sigma sold
dextran sulfate for use in molecular biology research, but not drug use.
Fearing individuals were obtaining dextran sulfate for this purpose we
all got calls inquiring as to its intended use. While not debating
ethics here, they were just protecting themselves from the US legal
system. I just called the Sigma customer service line and told them I
was thinking of setting up a plant tissue culture lab this summer, that
this was not related to my work (where I do use Sigma reagents), and
could I order tissue culture stuff from them. The answer was fine, no
problem, we accept VISA and Mastercard, and do you want to go ahead and
set up an account now or just use a misc. small order account. The
other possiblity is that this person had a good weekend ;-). So if
your're interested call customer service, not ordering! I do think they
will get pissed if you try and pull something on them, but labs come in
all shapes and sizes. Maybe problems come in down the line, but this
wasn't difficult.
Jeff
P.S. no I didn't set up an account and any good beginners text for plant T.C.?