Oxazole Blue

Oxazole Blue is a high-affinity, blue-fluorescent dye for monomeric carbocyanine nucleic acids that is cell-impermeant. In the absence of nucleic acids, the dye is generally non-fluorescent, but when bound to nucleic acids, it displays high excitation/emission maxima at 434 and 457 nm. The dye is also non-cytotoxic and can be used to continuously check on the viability of cell cultures.