Used as a non-ionic surfactant in biochemical and biotechnological applications, particularly in electrophoresis and membrane washing steps. Commonly employed in Western blotting to block nonspecific binding sites and reduce background noise. Also utilized in cell lysis buffers to solubilize membrane proteins while maintaining protein stability. Its mild detergent properties make it suitable for use in immunoassays and enzyme reactions where harsher detergents could denature proteins. Widely applied in microbiology for preparing bacterial cell suspensions and in molecular biology for nucleic acid purification processes.