The ALTA Journal
Laboratory handling guides, how to read the testing, where the law sits, and plain summaries of what the published research on each compound actually reports. No dosing, no protocols, no claims.
What are peptides? Amino acid chains, proteins, hormones and synthesis
The chemistry behind the word: what a peptide chain is, where the line with proteins sits, what peptide hormones do, and how a synthetic peptide is built one residue at a time.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 6 min readBacteriostatic water explained: what it is, how it differs from sterile water, and where to get it in the UK
The diluent every peptide laboratory keeps on the shelf: what the benzyl alcohol does, why the 28-day rule exists, when plain sterile water is the better choice, and what to look for when buying it in the UK.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 6 min readWhat is DSIP? The delta sleep-inducing peptide, its origin and what the research shows
A nine-residue peptide found in the blood of sleeping rabbits nearly fifty years ago, with a name that promises more than the evidence has delivered, and a genuinely unresolved question about where it comes from.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 6 min readGLOW vs KLOW peptide blends: what is in each, what KPV is, and which we sell
GLOW is GHK-Cu, BPC-157 and TB-500 together; KLOW is the same three plus KPV. What each component is, what the research on each covers, and why the blend format has trade-offs.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 7 min readHow to buy research peptides in the UK: the supplier checklist
Ten things to check before ordering from any UK peptide supplier, from lot-matched certificates to where the stock physically sits, and the questions a good supplier will refuse to answer.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 5 min readInsulin syringes explained: sizes, gauges, the U-100 scale and laboratory use
Why a 1 mL insulin syringe is the standard tool for measuring small volumes of diluent, what the numbers on the packet mean, and how to handle and dispose of them.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 7 min readRetatrutide phase 3 trials: the TRIUMPH programme, results so far and the approval timeline
What the TRIUMPH and TRANSCEND trials are testing, the numbers reported so far, when the rest is due, and why none of it changes the compound's status as an unlicensed research chemical.
Read → 18 September 2026 · 8 min readGLP-1 receptor agonists explained: incretins, the peptides from exenatide to retatrutide, and where each stands
The incretin story from a lizard's saliva to a triple agonist: what GLP-1 and GIP do, how the peptides were engineered to last a week, and which are licensed medicines versus research compounds.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readHow to reconstitute peptides: a laboratory guide
Which diluent to use, how to work out the volume for a target concentration, and the handling steps that keep a lyophilised peptide intact.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 6 min readHow to store peptides: lyophilised, reconstituted and in transit
Temperatures, light, moisture, freeze-thaw cycles and aliquoting: what actually determines how long a peptide stays within specification.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readHow to read a peptide certificate of analysis
HPLC purity, mass spec identity, net peptide content and endotoxin: what each line on a COA means and which ones sellers tend to leave out.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 8 min readAre peptides legal in the UK? Research peptides and the law explained
Which laws actually apply to research peptides in the UK, what a supplier can and cannot do, and why research use only is a legal condition rather than a slogan.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readWhat is BPC-157? Origin, sequence and what the research covers
Where the Body Protection Compound came from, why it is unusually stable, and what four decades of animal studies have and have not shown.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 6 min readWhat is TB-500? Thymosin beta-4 and the research behind the fragment
The 43-residue protein thymosin beta-4, the seven-residue actin-binding fragment sold as TB-500, and what the cell migration research actually measured.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 6 min readBPC-157 vs TB-500: how the two peptides differ and why they are paired
Two peptides, two mechanisms: a stable gastric fragment that drives angiogenic signalling and an actin-binding fragment that drives cell migration.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readGHK-Cu copper peptide: what it is, why it is blue and what the research says
A three-residue peptide that binds copper, turns blue, declines with age and has one of the broadest gene-expression footprints of any small molecule studied.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readRetatrutide vs tirzepatide vs semaglutide: receptors, licences and trial results
One licensed GLP-1 agonist, one licensed dual agonist, one unlicensed triple agonist: how the three differ on the published record.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 6 min readSemax vs Selank: what each peptide is and how the research differs
An ACTH fragment analogue and a tuftsin analogue, both from the same Moscow institute, with different proposed mechanisms and a shared evidence gap outside Russia.
Read → 17 September 2026 · 7 min readMOTS-c and epitalon: the two longevity research peptides explained
One is a 16-residue peptide encoded inside the mitochondrial genome; the other is a four-residue synthetic version of a pineal extract. Both sit in the longevity category for very different reasons.
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