The present invention relates to a method of disrupting a conjugate comprising a biotin compound and a biotin-binding compound, said method comprising the step of contacting said conjugate with an effective amount of a substantially aqueous solution under conditions such that the conjugate is disrupted, preferably reversibly disrupted, thereby forming a biotin compound and a biotin-binding compound. In particular, the invention relates to a method of reversibly releasing a biotinylated moiety from a streptavidin (or avidin) coated support. Uses of the methods in techniques of detection, identification, determination, purification, separation and/or isolation of target proteins or nucleic acid molecules are also encompassed by the present invention.