FAQ

Tierra’s Protein Platform makes it easy to order custom proteins. Just submit your sequences and we take care of the rest, delivering purified proteins quickly and at an affordable cost. Let us help you scale your research and innovate faster.

Cell-free protein expression is an approach that enables the production of recombinant proteins using transcription and translation machinery without the cell membrane. This technique allows us to produce proteins otherwise toxic to cells, to have precise control of the synthesis system, and to offer high-throughput adaptability.

If you have not found the answer to your question, please contact us.

We currently offer two E. coli -based cell-free expression systems, one optimized for enzymes and one optimized for biologics. Need something else? Contact us to see how we can help.

With our current standard offering, we deliver 50 microliters (µl) of purified protein for every sequence you order at the microgram scale and 500 µl at the milligram scale. For well behaved proteins, the microgram scale can deliver up to 350 µg/ml while the milligram scale can deliver up to 2 mg/ml. The protein concentration can vary given expression level variability for different proteins.

Our standard product offering currently allows proteins between 50 to 1000 amino acids. Are your proteins out of this range? Contact us to see how we can help.

Tags and linkers that do not interfere with our manufacturing process can be included in your sequence. Before you place your order, we will screen your sequences and notify you if problematic tags are detected. If your sequence includes a problematic tag, contact us to see if we can help.

We currently deliver your proteins in a buffer containing 100 mM Tris (pH 7.4), 150 mM NaCl, and 20% Glycerol. Need a different buffer? Contact us to let us know what you need.

Not with our standard product, but we are working to expand the customizations we offer through our standard platform. Need special additives? Contact us to see how we can help.

On the microgram scale we do not guarantee the synthesis level of the proteins you order. On the milligram scale we guarantee a yield of 0.1 mg; if we cannot hit this yield we will only charge a set-up fee. While we screen your sequences for features known to be challenging in our system, there are many factors that can lower synthesis levels of proteins, many of which are difficult to predict.

For every protein you order, you will receive:

• At least one variant of that protein, where the variant is your protein with a few extra amino acids resulting from our production process. While we guarantee delivery of one variant, you may receive more than one.
• Each variant will come in a tube containing the frozen purified protein.
• PAGE (either SDS or CE-SDS) visualization data
• Protein concentration (A280 or Bradford) data

Our production process involves the use of a cleavable tag, resulting in the presence of extra amino acids on your protein termini, so the proteins you receive will not be the exact sequences you ordered. Instead, these are the two possible sequences you may receive:

The exact sequence(s) delivered to you is specified on the data files of your order.

There are a couple of reasons your protein may not be delivered:

1. The DNA corresponding to your sequence could not be produced.
2. The protein did not pass our QC standards.

We ship all orders for next-day delivery on dry ice. Contact us if you need alternate shipping arrangements.

Upon receipt, store your purified proteins at -80˚C. When handling frozen proteins, it is best practice to limit the number of freeze-thaw cycles.

To place an order, simply create an account at proteinplatform.tierrabiosciences.com and start a new order.

You can order as little as 1 protein to a maximum of 100 proteins in a single order.

When you create an account and start an order, a quote will be generated prior to order submission.

You do not need to provide DNA with your order. Simply provide your digital amino acid sequences and Tierra takes care of the rest.

We will notify you by email with all information regarding your order.

You can expect to receive your proteins in as little as 3-4 weeks (microgram scale) to 4-5 weeks (milligram scale) from the time you place your order.

We will email you a tracking number prior to shipping your order. Once a tracking number is available, it can also be found on the Order History page of your online account.

Login to your account and navigate to Order Details. For every completed order, you will find a link to download your data files.

We charge you upon shipment of your order. For orders paid via credit card, you will be charged at the time of shipment. For orders paid via purchase order, the terms are Net 30.

Orders cannot be cancelled once they are in production. However, if you need to cancel your order within 24 hours after submitting it, please contact us at support@tierrabiosciences.com. Please include your order number and reason for cancelling.