A Microplate Reader, circa 1981

Credit: Courtesy of Biotek Instruments Inc." /> Credit: Courtesy of Biotek Instruments Inc. In the late 1970s, researchers who wanted to quantify the results of new immunoprecipitation assays, such as ELISA, had three choices: risk human error and a headache by using a manual reader, break out the cuvets and the spectrophotometer, or pay as much as $15,000 for a bulky automated reader. In 1981, Winooski, Vt.-base

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In the late 1970s, researchers who wanted to quantify the results of new immunoprecipitation assays, such as ELISA, had three choices: risk human error and a headache by using a manual reader, break out the cuvets and the spectrophotometer, or pay as much as $15,000 for a bulky automated reader.

In 1981, Winooski, Vt.-based, BioTek Instruments, introduced the EL307. Roughly the size of a toaster oven, the EL307 combined the ease of automated microplate reading with the low cost of the manual readers. Users still had to reposition their 96-well microplates by hand, but a spring-loaded device and magnets made this process easier than with purely manual readers. The EL307, shown here in a BioTek pamphlet from 1984—1985, was also directly connected to a printer that simultaneously recorded results from each well, eliminating the need to manually record each well's location. It took a mere three minutes to produce results ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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