"Draq5 stable marker"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    not required 

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           3.5

Comments: DRAQ5 was used to label the nuclei because the 405 nm channel was occupied by a required chromogen. The only minor disadvantages are the longer incubation time and the higher cost.

Name: Ehret

Organisation: TU Dresden

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Dr Ehret, thank you for your informative review; far-red DRAQ5 is ideal for situations when the violet channel is occupied by another important marker, yet it also allows for other visible range chromophores to be used with in direct combination.

"DRAQ5 detects DNA in platelets"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: I’ve been really pleased with DRAQ5 and have found it both reliable and easy to work with. I’ve used it for flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy, and even when detecting very small amounts of DNA (in platelets!) it was sensitive enough to give clear, consistent results. It’s straightforward to use, works well across different applications, and is also very reasonably priced - overall, a great reagent that I’d highly recommend.

Name: Lauren Murphy

Organisation: University of Oxford, United Kingdom

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Lauren, thank you for your review of DRAQ5.  Even after 25 years here's a novel application where you are pushing the boundaries by detecting such small quantities of DNA in platelets!

"DRAQ5"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.5

Comments: DRAQ5 was used for live imaging of tumor tissue or cells with confocal microscope. It is a stable dye and not very toxic. It works well for our live imaging

Name: Meng Dong

Organisation: Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Germany

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Meng, thank you for your review of DRAQ5.  We appreciated the protocol you have developed to better recapitulate MCL biology in a 3D culture.  Thiel, et al. JoVE 223 (2025): e68417.

"Versatile and Reliable Nuclear Stain for FACS and Confocal Imaging"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Cell Sorting

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: We used Invitrogen™ eBioscience™ DRAQ5™ primarily as a far-red nuclear stain for both flow cytometry (FACS) and confocal microscopy applications. In flow cytometry, DRAQ5 provided rapid and uniform nuclear staining, enabling accurate discrimination of nucleated cells from debris. Its far-red emission allowed us to combine it with commonly used fluorophores such as FITC, PE, and APC, without significant spectral overlap, thus expanding our multicolor panel design.

For cell sorting, DRAQ5 proved particularly useful in identifying nucleated versus enucleated cells and facilitated precise gating strategies. The dye’s rapid uptake, even without permeabilization, made it highly suitable for live-cell analysis and sorting with minimal sample preparation.

In confocal microscopy, DRAQ5 provided sharp, high-contrast nuclear labeling with minimal photobleaching. Its far-red excitation minimized phototoxicity and avoided interference with green and red fluorophores, allowing us to perform multiplexed imaging of protein markers in both fixed and live-cell conditions.

Overall, DRAQ5 performed robustly across both platforms, delivering reproducible results and consistent staining quality. We selected it for its spectral properties, ease of integration into FACS workflows, and compatibility with confocal imaging, and it has become a reliable part of our staining toolkit.

Name: Rizwanul Haque

Organisation: Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Rizwanul, thank you so much for this comprehensive description of the rationale for your choice of DRAQ5.  As you rightly say this is one tool in a very big toolbox!

"DraQ5 used as nuclei staining in CK1alpha deficient megakaryocytes"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DraQ5 was used in a 1:1000 dilution for immunofluorescence staining of murine megakaryocytes to highlight and perfectly display the polyploidal nuclei lobulations within the megakaryocytes. 2D as well as 3D rendered images were aquired and evaluated.

Name: Ferdinand Kollotzek

Organisation: Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Tübingen

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Ferdinand, thank you for the generous review of DRAQ5.  We are always fascinated by cells like MKs which undergo such dramatic terminal differentiation to platelets!

"The product has proven itself in confocal microscopy"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DRAQ5 was used in confocal microscopy. The dye worked well. The results were of high quality.

Name: KLIMOVA ELENA

Organisation: V.N. Karazin Kharkov National University, Ukraine

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Elena, thank you so much for taking the time to provide a review of DRAQ5.

"Nuclei FACs sorting"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Cell Sorting

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments:

Name: Shirin Schneeberger

Organisation: Charite, Germany

Nuclei of mouse spleen cells were stained with Draq5 dye (1:500) (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and slides were mounted into ProLong ®Gold Antifade Reagent (Cell Signaling Technology, MA, USA).

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: To our experience, the best staining was achieved when dye Draq5 was added to cells together with the fluorescent secondary antibody  and incubated at least 1 hr at room temperature.

Name: Gabriela Hrčková

Organisation: Anon., Slovakia

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Manufacturer's response: Dear Gabriela, thank you for your technical feedback on the use of DRAQ5 in immunofluorescence methods - combining antibodies and DRAQ5 is a nice way to streamline a procedure. 

"DRAQ5 for confocal imaging"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Confocal Imaging

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: DRAQ5 was used for nucleus staining in our study. 

Performance: Great 

Easy to handle

Name: Savita Choudhary

Organisation: BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

"easy and useful"

PRODUCT:              DRAQ5

Application Area:     Neuroscience, confocal microscopy

Ease of Use:             ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Value for Money:       ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments:               It's easy to identify the target, and the signal is strong enough to capture the image.

Name: Hao-Jung Cheng

Organisation: National Sun Yat-Sen University

"molecular biology"

PRODUCT:               DRAQ5
Application Area:      Confocal Microscopy

After Sales Service:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:      ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Average rating:          5.0

Comments:                Easy to use and highly productive 

Name: Sanaa Bendahmane

• Organisation: Private University of Marrakech

"Works as expected"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        DNA labeling for nano-imaging

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: It is easy to use. The photo-stability and brightness are great. The far-red spectrum also provides less potential damages to DNA structures.

Name: Wing Shun Li

Organisation: Applied Physics Program, Northwestern University

"Good"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: Works as expected

Name: Nahla Ibrahim

Organisation: Medizinischen Universität Wien

"Very simple use to detect the nuclei and the signal is generally bright"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        To visualize nuclei for basic research

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.0

Comments: It is easy to use and the staining is generally bright. In my case it was helpful since it was not possible to detect the fluorescence released by other compounds used to visualize nuclei such as dapi or hoechst 33342.

Name: Raffaele Strippoli

Organisation: Sapienza University (Rome, Italy)

"Great results!"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        Confocal microsopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: The product is highly effective for confocal microscopy use and easy to use. We could achieve high-quality and reproducible results. Quality meets the value of money, also considering the after-sales care.

Name: Flavia Trionfetti

Organisation: IRCCS INMI Spallanzani

"Great Result!"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        Staining Nuclei

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: The staining result was of high quality.

Name: Julie Bejoy

Organisation: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

"Great nuclear counterstain"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        Nuclear counterstaining in fluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DRAQ5 is a bright and easy-to-use nuclear counterstain in the red part of the spectrum. It doesn't require washing after incubation and hence can save you a couple of minutes in the lab.

Name: Kseniia Sarieva

Organisation: Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research

"A bacterial DNA DRAQ5 was added to differentiate them from the background."

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        labeling bacterial viability for flow cytometry and confocal microcopy analysis

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: We ordered the product from Thermo Fisher. It is very easy to use in an effective and economical concentration range (after titration). Its use on fixed bacteria is a success. 

The protocol we have developed is the subject of a technical note: A flow cytometry method for safe detection of bacterial viability (DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.24794)

Name: Sophie Servain Viel

Organisation: plateforme CYM - UMS IPSIT (Paris)

"Great results"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        Cell cycle analysis of leukemia cells

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.0

Comments: We have obtained excellent results staining acute myeloid leukemia cells for flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle.

Name: Chiara Boggio

Organisation: Università del Piemonte Orientale

"Great and reliable results, easy to use, recommended in IF experiments"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        analyze tissue samples and cells

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DRAQ5 is easy to use and provides reliable and consistent  staining, when the datasheet information is followed. High-quality results are achieved in confocal microscope in immunofluorescence experiments using cells or tissues.

Name: Pinelopi Kastana

Organisation: University of Patras