Our biggest ever Seal of Quality announcement

The first laboratory instruments of 2023 to earn a prized Seal of Quality have been announced in recognition of outstanding feedback received from scientists globally.

Seals of Quality recognize the top 0.1% of products that consistently receive the highest customer review ratings on SelectScience^® and are designed to help scientists and healthcare professionals worldwide immediately recognize the instruments and services their peers rate the highest.

The first announcement of 2023 is our biggest ever, with 12 products earning new Seal of Quality awards. Plus, we share a round-up of all the Seals that were awarded in 2022.

Platinum status

NanoEntek holds multiple Seals and has now achieved a Platinum Seal of Quality for its Disposable Hemocytometers. The range has received over 220 reviews with an average of 4.8 stars out of a possible five. The Disposable Hemocytometers first earned a Bronze Seal back in 2021 and achieved its Gold status only in July 2022.

Reviewing the C-Slide Cell Counting Chamber Slides, Julie Cools from University of Antwerp, said, “Very easy to use - could not work without it anymore!”

Double whammy

Earning two new Seals of Quality is BMG LABTECH. The first a Gold for the CLARIOstar^® Plus Multi-mode Microplate Reader and the second a Silver for the PHERAstar^® FSX HTS Microplate Reader.

The CLARIOstar^® Plus Multi-mode Microplate Reader has received over 100 reviews, with an average of 4.8 stars out of five. While the PHERAstar^® FSX HTS Microplate Reader has received over 75 reviews, with an average star rating of 4.7 out of five.

Commenting on the PHERAstar^® FSX HTS Microplate Reader, reviewer, Dale Warnock from Bayer US, said, “Our assay development platform relies on PHERAstar readers for absorbance, fluorescence, luminescence, and homogeneous time resolved fluorescence. We have had an excellent experience with BMG as a manufacturer/partner both in the knowledgeable and responsive sales reps and their quality technical service reps.”

Raising the bar

In February 2022, Metrohm earned its first two Seal of Quality awards. And now, it has added four new Seals of Quality to its collection.

The 913 pH Meter by Metrohm has now earned itself a Silver Seal of Quality, and has received over 90 reviews with an average star rating of 4.6 out of five. This is closely followed by the 901 Titrando for Karl Fischer Titration, which has also earned a Silver Seal of Quality, having received over 80 reviews with an average star rating of 4.6 out of five.

The 888 Titrando/890 KF Titrando and the 930 Compact IC Flex Ion Chromatograph from Metrohm have also both received Bronze Seal of Quality awards, having received over 50 reviews, with average star ratings of 4.0 or more out of five.

Latest newcomer

The latest manufacturer to join the Seal of Quality club and earn its first Seal is Twist Bioscience. Its Gene Fragments has achieved a Bronze Seal of Quality, after receiving 52 reviews and an impressive average star rating of 4.9 out of five.

Reviewers, Helen Prescott, from Oxford University, commented, “Excellent, cannot find fault with this company,” and Lei Zheng, from The University of Texas Houston Medical School, said, “Twist Biosciences is my go-to service provider for gene synthesis. The speed is fast! I receive my gene fragment within one week. The gene optimization program online is easy to use. Highly recommended.”

Consistency is key

PEAK Scientific Instruments has earned a new Silver Seal of Quality award for its Genius NM32LA Nitrogen Generator, with over 80 reviews and an average star rating of 4.7 out of five. PEAK Scientific also holds another Silver Seal of Quality for its Service Offering: Complete Plan care package, which was awarded in 2018.

Eppendorf has also achieved a Silver Seal of Quality for its Research Series Pipette (Adjustable), which has received over 75 reviews with an average star rating of 4.6 out of five. Advanced reviewer, Gonzalo Moreno, Universidad de Burgos, commented, "I've been using this pipette for years, and it's proven to be very reliable. It's very easy to adjust the volume and pipetting is very smooth. Great durability. It's easy to clean and maintain and very simple to calibrate if necessary."

No stranger to the Seals of Quality awards, Zymo Research as earned a brand new Bronze Seal of Quality for its DNA/RNA Shield™. The reagent has received over 50 reviews with an average star rating of 4.8 out of five. Zymo Research has consistently appeared in these quarterly announcements and currently hold the most Seals of Quality of any manufacturer.

The Milli-Q^® IQ 7000 Ultrapure Water Purification System from Merck has also achieved a Bronze Seal of Quality award. It has received 54 reviews, with an average star rating of 4.7 out of five. Reviewer, Eleanor Fitzgerald, from Adaptix, described the Milli-Q^® IQ 7000 as an “invaluable piece of laboratory equipment! A must have for everyone!"

Your 2022 Seals of Quality round-up

With over 18 new Seals awarded, and a brand-new award launched, the Diamond award, 2022 was a big year for the Seal of Quality awards. Here is a brief round-up of all the Seals of Qualities we announced last year:

• Logos Biosystems - LUNA™ Family of Automated Cell Counters - Diamond
• Zymo Research - Direct-zol™ RNA Miniprep Plus – Platinum
• Zymo Research - Zymoclean™ Gel DNA Recovery Kit – Gold
• Zymo Research - ZymoBIOMICS™ DNA Mini Kit – Gold
• NanoEntek - Automated Cell Counters – Gold
• INTEGRA Biosciences - ASSIST PLUS – Gold
• NanoEntek - Disposable Hemocytometers – Gold*
• BMG LABTECH - CLARIOstar^® Plus Multi-mode Microplate Reader - Silver*
• Zymo Research - Quick-RNA™ Miniprep - Silver
• Zymo Research - Quick-DNA™ Miniprep Plus - Silver
• Zymo Research - DNA Clean & Concentrator^®-5 – Silver
• Gamry Instruments - Interface 1010E Potentiostat – Silver
• Malvern Panalytical - Empyrean - XRD – Bronze
• Metrohm - 901 Titrando for Karl Fischer Titration – Bronze*
• Metrohm - 913 pH Meter – Bronze*
• Thermo Fisher Scientific - Thermo Scientific™ NanoDrop™ One/OneC Microvolume UV-Vis Spectrophotometer with Wi-Fi – Bronze
• Gilson Inc. - PIPETMAN^® Classic – Bronze
• Artel - MVS^® Multichannnel Verification System – Bronze
• Azure Biosystems - Azure cSeries Gel Imaging Systems – Bronze

*As of 2023, these products now hold new Seals of Quality.

Your reviews make a difference

The Seals of Quality started in 2017, with the goal to assist scientists in making important purchasing decisions by recognizing the products that have consistently received the highest review ratings. There are now 81 lab products currently permitted to display a SelectScience Seal of Quality.

New Seals of Quality are announced quarterly and alongside the Scientists’ Choice Awards^®.