Piscataway, NJ-based Amersham Biosciences introduces PlusOne Clean-Up kits and reagents for IEF, SDS-PAGE, and 2-D electrophoresis sample preparation. The PlusOne kits use a protein precipitation method that overcomes problems associated with traditional techniques, such as incomplete precipitation, inaccurate quantitation, and incomplete protein recovery. Researchers can prepare samples in 90 minutes with these reagents. Amersham Biosciences (800) 526-3593 www.amershambiosciences.com Courtes

Roche Molecular Biochemicals of Indianapolis is offering a 30 percent discount on its Ribonucleoside Triphosphate set with the purchase of T7, T3, or SP6 RNA Polymerases. The offer is valid until December 31, 2001. To receive the discount, mention promotional code RN4 when ordering. Roche Molecular Biochemicals, (800) 262-1640, www.biochem.roche.com My-O-Mycoplasma La Jolla, Calif.-based Stratagene is offering 50 percent off any item of choice with the purchase of one Mycoplasma Plus™

It was bound to happen. During the growth of PCR, many companies joined the thermal cycler bandwagon. But since The Scientist's last thermal cycler review,1 some of these manufacturers--such as Ericomp--have left the cut-throat market and a number of the machines listed in previous LabConsumer profiles have been discontinued. Market niches remain for those companies and product lines that have survived the intense competition. One such niche is real-time thermocyclers, previously reviewed in T

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a hot topic. In this publication alone, more than 14 articles mentioning apoptosis have been published within the past year. It is therefore little wonder that new kits for apoptosis detection seem to be introduced on a daily basis. One of the most popular methods for detecting apoptosis is the caspase activity assay. Caspases are cellular enzymes that, when activated, initiate a proteolytic cascade that ultimately leads to apoptosis; caspases are thus use

Transfection, the delivery of DNA into a eukaryotic cell, is now the standard methodology for studying gene expression and function. Scientists can transfect both primary cells--those derived directly from the body--and cultured cells, but primary cells are more accurate models of a given cell type than their cultured counterparts are. Researchers traditionally transfect primary cells using viral technologies, which can be expensive and complicated to use, but amaxa of Cologne, Germany, has deve

VistaLabTechnologies Inc. of Pleasantville, N.Y., has developed an ergonomic pipette designed to reduce the arm, wrist, and neck pain associated with repeated use of manual liquid-handling devices. The Ovation BioNatural™ pipette is shaped to conform to the user's palm and to minimize stress to the shoulder and wrist. The instrument's design won a Gold Award in the 2001 Design Competition of the Industrial Designers of America. VistaLab Technologies (888) 652-6520 www.vistalab.com Afford

Researchers most often use techniques such as coimmunoprecipitation and yeast two-hybrid screening to study protein-protein interactions. These methods are time-consuming-the yeast two-hybrid technique can take several months to perform-and prone to false positive results. Millbury, Mass.-based Hypromatrix recently introduced AntibodyArray™ technology to combat these problems. Hypromatrix developed the AntibodyArray for the study of protein-protein interactions and protein phosphorylation,

Once, researchers thought that only the kinase IKKb--and not its second catalytic subunit, IKKa--had a direct role in activating NF-kB, the much-studied transcription factor that is implicated in activating genes responsible for inflammatory responses and apoptosis.1 However, new research by Michael Karin, professor of pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Ulm, Germany, have demonstrated the role of IKKa in

Gene Tec Corp. of Durham, N.C., has introduced the Gene Flow™ Chamber, an innovative liquid handling device for microarray processing. The Gene Flow Chamber uses a capillary system for flow and mixing and facilitates uniform hybridization over a 2-cm square array. The chamber eliminates the need for valves or a pressurized fluid system. Gene Tec Corp.(919) 493-2022www.ncbiotech.org/genetec.htm Glow and Behold BioVision of Mountain View, Calif., is offering a 20 percent discount on its Ca

The recent microarray explosion has been a benefit to gene expression researchers, but scientists who require custom arrays may find currently available technologies too expensive and time-consuming for their needs. To address these difficulties, Mukilteo, Wash.-based CombiMatrix Corp. has developed a flexible biological array processor system that can produce cost-effective, custom biochip oligonucleotide arrays more quickly than conventional arraying technologies. Chief technology officer Don

The green revolution has reached the centrifuge world. Kendro Laboratory Products of Newtown, Conn., is offering a 30 percent discount on ColorTone™ fixed-angle rotors for customers who retire any Sorvall® Superspeed rotor and replace it with a ColorTone rotor. The discount is applicable to an unlimited number of retired rotors. ColorTone rotors are available in six colors and allow laboratories to easily color-code rotors according to laboratory, protocol, or contaminant. The promotio

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)--a technique invented by Kary Mullis in 1983, published in 1986,1 and the subject of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1993--can well be described as one of the most important technical advances of modern molecular biology. How much researchers have to pay to use the technology, however, is now largely in the hands of US and European courts that are deciding who controls patents on a critical enzyme that, in simplistic terms, amounts to the P in PCR. Basel, Swi