What is the difference between GelRed™ and GelGreen™? Which one should I choose?
FAQ from Biotium
The main difference between GelRed and GelGreen is their fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths. GelRed has red fluorescence, similar to ethidium bromide. GelGreen has green fluorescence, similar to SYBR® Green or SYBR® Safe. Both dyes are compatible with standard UV transilluminators. GelGreen is also compatible with blue light transilluminators, which allow users to avoid exposing themselves and their DNA samples to ultraviolet radiation.
GelRed and GelGreen have higher sensitivity for double stranded nucleic acids compared to single stranded nucleic acids, but GelRed is more sensitive for staining single stranded nucleic acids than GelGreen. GelRed is about twice as sensitive for double stranded nucleic acids compared to single-stranded nucleic acids, and about five times more sensitive than GelGreen for staining single stranded nucleic acids.