TAE, also known as Tris-Acetate-EDTA, is a buffer solution commonly used in molecular biology, primarily agarose gel electrophoresis. It is made up of Tris base, acetic acid, and EDTA dissolved in water. The added metal ion chelator EDTA serves to inactivate any nucleases that may be present. The solution is commonly prepared in concentrated batches, such as 10X or 50X TAE to be readily diluted to a working concentration. TAE buffer has a pH of roughly 8.4 at room temperature.