Protein Solutions' DynaPro molecular sizing instruments The scattering of sunlight by a combination of air molecules, dust particles, and water droplets creates some beautiful phenomena readily recognizable as white clouds, blue skies, and red sunsets. That scattered sunlight carries information that is detected by the eye and interpreted by the brain. In a similar fashion, laser light scattered by molecules in solution also carries valuable information. When properly detected and analyzed, f

Molecular Devices' FLIPR384 System The accelerating pace of drug discovery has spawned an increasing need for functional assays using living cells. Automating these assays for high-throughput systems, however, has proven to be difficult. Noting that the most common biological assays employed in high-throughput settings rely on some kind of fluorescent measurement, Molecular Devices Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif., has developed an automated solution for functional whole-cell screening. Launc

"Innovation is our mission," states Rockford, Ill.-based Pierce Chemical Company's Rick Chu. True to those words, Chu has applied Pierce's expertise in detergent chemistry to the development of a family of protein extraction reagents designed to rapidly and efficiently extract proteins from bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cell lines. Cell lysis, of course, is an important first step in recovering recombinant proteins or for providing samples for various assays. The new Pierce protein extraction

There's no stopping this train. High-throughput sample processing has become the hot topic in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Clearly, the demands for faster, more efficient, and cheaper methods of drug discovery have taken the forefront as automated assays move from 96 to 386 and higher density microplates. In turn, faster and faster methods to process these plates follow. For example, in a recent press release, Zymark Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass., announced the successful

Date: February 15, 1999Table of Robotic Liquid Handler Manufacturers and Table of Pipetting Robots Cytotoxicity studies, ELISA assays, apoptosis assays, peptide library screening--these and many other assays are now performed without human intervention by automated liquid handling systems. Continuing evolution of these machines has produced some very capable and powerful robots, increasing assay throughput to dramatic levels. In this profile, LabConsumer examines the automated liquid handler

Jordan Hewes felt lucky. She had begun a series of experiments staining cell junctions when she discovered the hazardous and toxic properties of silver nitrate, the staining agent she was using. "I was very upset when I learned about the hazardous properties of silver nitrate," Hewes explained. "Besides being toxic, it ... reacts explosively with ethanol. I could have blown myself up. I was disappointed that my supervisor failed to warn me about the hazards before I started this project." "In

Date: November 23, 1998Horizontal Gel Apparatus One needs only a glimpse of the total number of horizontal submarine electrophoresis devices currently on the market to understand the importance of electrophoresis to the life scientist. This importance has spawned a vast market with many players striving diligently to find niches as successful manufacturers and suppliers. The resulting competition has produced a bevy of electrophoretic systems and devices, some with a few clever and unique chara

Date: October 12, 1998Comparison Table Bench space and budget--the two biggest limiting factors of life in the lab. How can both be maximized, especially in terms of equipment? This problem undoubtedly occupies the time and efforts of all life scientists at one time or another. Often, easy answers are difficult to find. In this profile, LabConsumer looks at one of its favorite topics, the thermal cycler, for a glimpse at how the manufacturers of these products have tackled the space and budge

What do I do with aqueous low-level radioactive waste? As a radiation safety officer for a small biotechnology company, I found solving that problem to be the most difficult and time-consuming aspect of my job. Faced with limited access to disposal sites, budget-busting costs, and a small waste storage room, I've had to rely completely on decay-in-storage to cope with low-level radioactive waste. Typically, we hold radioactive waste with half-lives less than 90 days for a period equal to 10 ha

LabConsumer takes Gel-O Shooters Heat & Pour Agarose Gels on a test drive It was one of those days. The autoclave repairman had shown up early and the facility manager was out. Not an unusual occurrence, but it was not the best day for it. I just had to get an agarose gel in before my pending lunchtime meeting. What to do? I thought about using a precast agarose gel, but I had more samples than precast wells and everything had to run on one gel. Casting my own gel was an option, but I neede

Date: August 31, 1998Multichannel Pipettors Ouch! A full day of depressing the plunger on a manual pipettor can really smart. The 600 to 700 grams of thumb pressure required for each pipetting and blow-out stroke adds up after a few hundred repetitions. Combine that with individually filling all 96 wells on a microtiter plate, and the phrase "pipettor's thumb" falls right in with tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other repetitive strain injuries. In fact, the development of numerous han

Date: July 20, 1998Precast Gels Warning: Neurotoxin. Cancer suspect agent. This product contains a compound known to cause cancer. Wear gloves, eye protection, and dust mask and use in a fume hood. Wash thoroughly after handling. Skin contact, inhalation, or ingestion may cause nervous system disorders. In case of contact, flush with water for 15 minutes. Yuck. The label on your bottle of acrylamide makes itself clear: weighing out acrylamide and pouring your own polyacrylamide gels is a poten