Articles by Shane Beck

The Concept: Billions of molecules can be placed or captured on a 2 mm diameter microchip in predetermined places. While the molecules are on the chip, scientists can map and compare protein compositions (Retentate Mapping™) and evaluate numerous types of protein-protein interactions. Proteins on the ProteinChip™ arrays are read at the rate of 10 times per second. Subsequently, when subjected to short bursts of laser light, the retained molecules are uncoupled from the chip surface

Date: August 17, 1998Environmental Incubator/Shakers That flask in your hand needs warmth and swirling, so you're about to strap it into the orbital water bath that's been a permanent fixture in your lab for at least the last decade. It's rusting, it's taped to the bench to keep it from "creeping," and from the sounds it produces when shaking you might think someone set up a hay baler in the laboratory. In this issue of The Scientist, LabConsumer looks at environmental incubator shakers (exclu

Packard CytoGem localization of cellular peroxisomes and nuclei. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has been busy in the 1990s, having been removed from the jellyfish Aequora victoria and transfected into just about every type of cell possible. Since the first such application of GFP was reported (M. Chalfie et al., Science, 263:802-5, 1994), new uses for this workhorse have arisen on a regular basis. One of the latest developments of GFP technology is found in Packard Instrument Company's coll

Cells transfected using FuGENE 6 reagent and protocol supplied by Roche Molecular Biochemicals. MCF-10A cells transfected with a GFP construct (pGreenLanternn-1; Gibco/BRL) and fixed with formaldehyde and counter-stained with DAPI to reveal nuclei. GFP expression (green) was detected by fluorescence microscopy using a standard FITC filter set. DAPI staining (various shades of blue) was detected by fluorescence microscopy using a DAPI filter set. Transfected cells have a light blue (almost whit

Date: June 8, 1998 Author: Shane BeckLicensed Research Reagent Companies, Thermal Cyclers, Taq Polymerase Catalog Prices F or those of you who regularly read LabConsumer, this article may be something other than what you are used to seeing. The topic of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) licensing is one that, as LabConsumer gathered information from an increasing number of people with numerous points of view, it became more and more difficult to sort out. With a topic as hot as this, and with lit

Date: May 25, 1998 Author: Shane Beck Charts For those researchers who wish to delve into cells and tissues, there are several immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical detection methods to choose from. From the antibody-enzyme conjugation and peroxidase antiperoxidase (PAP) methods pioneered in the late 1960s came the development of avidin-biotin affinity techniques. Taking advantage of avidin's high affinity for biotin, scientists were, and still are able to look at tissues in new ways. Ear

Date: April 13, 1998pH Electrodes from 10 Companies (PDF Format) Did you know it is possible to measure the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) of almost any substance today? You name it--buffers, sludge, meat, or mud--companies are designing electrodes to tackle what may seem like the strangest of tasks. And yet, for the most part, electrodes today appear strikingly similar to electrodes manufactured years ago. So what has changed? "Electrodes themselves are pretty much unchanged," remarks Peter

More and more, products are developed "to make our lives easier". From self-cleaning ovens to fast-food drive-throughs to filing taxes by phone or computer (April 15 is rapidly approaching), more efficient and painless ways to go about our chores are developed daily, and biotechnology is no exception to this process. Preassembled, prepackaged bottle top filters are a prime example of a product designed to save scientists precious time in the laboratory. MSI Internally Supported Filter. Image c

Date: February 16, 1998 Thermal Cyclers Chart DNA Ligation Chart here are specialized thermal cyclers on the market today with prices comparable to that of a luxurious automobile or a small to midsized home. However, LabConsumer wanted to devote an article to thermal cyclers that don't send you reeling when you go to balance the checkbook. Perhaps your laboratory doesn't have endless cash reserves, or maybe too many people are fighting for time on one thermal cycler. Pay heed, for your optio

Date: February 2, 1998 Chart 1 Spectrophotometry is a technique most scientists have used at some point in their careers. Whether for confirmation of a compound's identity or for quantitation of a protein, spectrophotometry in the ultraviolet and visible spectrum has rapidly found increasing applications in numerous fields within the last few years. To help meet this demand, manufacturers of instrumentation for UV/Vis spectrophotometry now provide machines with a wide spectrum of features and

Date: January 5, 1998 Chart 1, Chart 2 n the beginning there was Taq. Actually, there were others before Taq. There were precursory polymerases, such as that from E. coli, that lost their enzymatic activities at elevated temperatures. This shortfall made thermal cycling a time-consuming chore, with the necessity of adding new polymerase after each cycle. Then came the thermostable polymerases such as Taq DNA polymerase, which was isolated from the thermophilic, aerobic bacterium Thermus aquat

Manufactured by Biometra (Germany), the Rotaphor utilizes patented Rotating Field Electrophoresis (ROFE) technology to allow separation beyond the limit of conventional horizontal agarose gel electrophoresis. With this method, an electric field between two primary sets of electrodes is stabilized by two sets of secondary electrodes. The electrodes are positioned within a rotor that is rotated above a stationary gel. This format gives users enormous flexibility by choosing vector angles between

Date: November 24, 1997 Chart To most people, a luminometer is something that probably measures "luminos," while a fluorometer measures "fluoros," As simple as that sounds, these analyzers have been occupying valuable bench space in laboratories for decades. Though maybe not considered new and hot techniques in the biotechnology arena, luminometry and fluorometry continue to provide scientists with reliable answers to molecular questions. LabConsumer set out to explore options available to sc

Date: November 10, 1997 Chart 1 Chart 2 It was a busy evening at The Eagle. Less than half a century ago, inside this small Cambridge pub, two gentlemen raised their glasses to salute their remarkable genetic findings. At the time, the two men (and a few close colleagues) were the only souls on the planet privy to the molecular structure of DNA. Does it seem odd, then, that researchers around the globe could be toasting the description of the entire human genome less than ten years from now? Y