Every community develops its own shorthand, and this one is no exception. New readers tell us the jargon is its own barrier to understanding the actual reporting, so here’s a plain-language reference for the terms that show up most often in our coverage.
Testing and Documentation Terms
COA (certificate of analysis) — a lab’s report on what’s actually in a sample. RUO (research use only) — the regulatory label most products in this category carry, covered in detail in our Explainer on the subject. Bunk — community shorthand for a product that tested as, or is suspected to be, substantially different from what it was sold as.
“Half our mailbox is people asking what a term in a previous issue meant. This is the reference we should have published months ago.”
— from reader correspondence that prompted this pieceHandling and Dosing Terms
Reconstitution — mixing a lyophilized (freeze-dried) peptide powder with a diluent, usually bacteriostatic water, before use. Pin — community shorthand for an injection. IU and mg — two different units that show up interchangeably and inconsistently across vendor listings, a frequent source of dosing confusion covered in our reconstitution-math piece.
Market Structure Terms
Blend — a product combining multiple compounds in one vial, discussed in more detail in a future piece. White-label — a product manufactured by one facility and sold under many different retail brand names, which we covered directly in an earlier issue.