Bench Buys

Image: Courtesy of Brinkmann Bacterial Economy Westbury, NY-based Brinkmann introduces the Eppendorf® LidBac, a membrane-lid tube that enables cultivation of bacterial cultures at the miniprep scale. An economical, fast alternative to conventional large-scale bacterial cultivation, the LidBac consists of a standard microcentrifuge tube with a polypropylene membrane lid and an integrated hydrophobic membrane. The culture itself grows in the tube; it can then be used for downstream applic

Madison, Wis.-based Novagen now sells KOD HiFi DNA polymerase (manufactured by Toyobo of Japan), a proofreading enzyme for high-fidelity PCR amplification. KOD HiFi DNA polymerase is a recombinant version of Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1 DNA polymerase. According to company literature, the enzyme possesses higher accuracy than any other commercially available DNA polymerase, is five times faster than Pfu DNA polymerase, and twice as fast as Taq DNA polymerase. Novagen also sells KOD Hot Start

Most reagents used for reducing disulfide bonds in peptides and proteins have unpleasant odors. To combat this problem, Pierce Chemical Co. of Rockford, Ill., has covalently attached the odorless reducing agent TCEP to an agarose support. Pierce's Immobilized TCEP Disulfide Reducing Gel allows reductions to be performed on the bench-top without the need for a fume hood and avoids the need for dialysis or gel filtration to remove the reducing reagent. Pierce Chemical Co. +1 (800) 874-3723 www.p

Until March 29, 2002, Stratagene of La Jolla, Calif., is offering a 30% discount on the 100-unit size of AccuType DNA polymerase. AccuType DNA polymerase is a high-fidelity PCR enzyme designed for genotyping and mutation detection applications using sensitive DHPLC technologies. The offer is valid for Stratagene direct customers only. Stratagene, +1 (800) 424-5444 www.stratagene.com Mass Spec Time Saver Millipore of Bedford, Mass., has introduced the Montage In-Gel Digest96 Kit for convenient

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™

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

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 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

Bio-Nobile Oy of Turku, Finland, has introduced the PickPen™, a novel magnetic particle transfer device. Unlike traditional magnetic separation methods, which generally require aspiration of liquids after separation of bound materials via a magnetic stand, the PickPen removes the particles of interest themselves. First a retractable magnet is inserted into the disposable tip of the PickPen device. The tip is dipped into the sample and removed after the magnetic particles bind. Particles ar

Pierce Chemical Co. of Rockford, Ill., has introduced the UnBlot™ Chemiluminescent In-Gel Detection Kits for detection and visualization of specific proteins. Unlike Western blotting, the technology permits detection of protein directly in the gel, eliminating transfer and blocking steps. The UnBlot kits reduce post-electrophoresis detection time to as little as four hours. Additionally, the technology is compatible with stripping and reprobing protocols, allowing users to reprobe and reop

Berthold Detection Systems of Pforzheim, Germany, has introduced the Luminescence TestPlate for the testing and validation of microplate luminometers. Identical in size to a standard 96-well microplate, the device tests the reproducibility, changes in sensitivity, and changes in dynamic range of luminescent detection systems. The Luminescence TestPlate is supplied with a rechargeable battery and evaluation software. Berthold Detection Systems' products are distributed in the United States by Zyl

Madison, Wis.-based Novagen's ColiRoller™ plating beads replace the "hockey stick" method of bacterial plating. Bacteria are commonly spread on agar plates with a bent glass rod that must be immersed in ethanol and placed briefly in an open flame before use; this method can result in uneven spreading and is tedious when preparing multiple plates. ColiRoller beads are a more efficient alternative--simply pipette cells onto a plate, add 10-20 beads, and tilt the plate back and forth to sprea

Courtesy of Amersham Pharmacia BiotechThe Ready-To-Run separation unitUntil December 31, 2001, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech of Piscataway, N.J., is offering a free 24-reaction Ready-To-Go™ PCR beads kit with the purchase of a Ready-To-Run™ separation unit. The new Ready-To-Run separation unit is an agarose gel electrophoresis system for the rapid screening of PCR products. The system is expandable for higher- throughput applications. Ready-To-Go PCR beads are room-temperature stable be

Fast Extraction Geno Technology's GeneCapsule Geno Technology Inc. of St. Louis introduces GeneCapsule(tm), a single-use system for recovery of DNA, RNA, and protein, from electrophoresis gels by electroelution. The two- component GeneCapsule permits extraction of 1,000-bp DNA fragments in just 60 seconds. Recovered DNA can then be used in a variety of molecular biology applications. Geno Technology Inc, (314) 645-2050, www.genotech.com Go West(ern) UVP Inc. of Upland, Calif., introduces the

QIAGEN's HiSpeed Plasmid Midi Kit includes QIAfilter cartridges and QIAprecipitator modules. The Need for Speed QIAGEN of Valencia, Calif., introduces the HiSpeed™ Plasmid Midi Kit, a rapid method for purification of up to 200 µg of plasmid or cosmid DNA. The kit includes QIAfilter™ cartridges and QIAprecipitator™ modules that eliminate the need to centrifuge bacterial lysates and isopropanol precipitates. The purification procedure takes only 45 minutes to complete. Q

The Slicker Picker-Upper ENPAC Corp.'s Poly-Labtray™ protects laboratory benches and workers from unrecoverable spills and overflows of liquid and free-flowing powder chemicals. The tray features a removable grated surface, which holds up to four one-gallon bottles and permits spills to flow to a 2.5-gallon-capacity sump tray below. Portable and compact, the Poly-Labtray is made of 100 percent polyethylene and will not rust or corrode. ENPAC (800) 936-7229 www.enpac.com Matrix Technol

See You Later Ambion of Austin, Texas, introduces RNAlater™, a tissue storage reagent that protects cellular RNA from degradation before RNA isolation and eliminates the need to freeze samples immediately in liquid nitrogen for later processing. The aqueous reagent does not affect the integrity of the stored RNA and is compatible with many tissues and with all RNA protocols tested. RNAlater is available in 100 ml and 500 ml sizes. Ambion, (800) 888-8804, www.ambion.com   Conven

Buy 3, Get 1 Free Until October 30, 2000, Stratagene is offering a special introductory price on its Human and Mouse Total RNA: Buy three and get the fourth free. Human total RNA is available from a variety of normal and diseased adult and fetal human tissues; mouse total RNA is derived from pathogen-free tissues from a BALB/c mouse strain. Both products are subjected to high quality standards and are RNase-free. To receive this promotional offer, reference Quote #PP001. Stratagene, (800) 424

Do a Good Turn Millipore's Steriflip Filter Unit Steriflip® Filter Units from Millipore of Bedford, Mass., eliminate loss of liquid sample from centrifuge tubes during filtration. The units are designed to work with standard 50 ml double-lead threaded centrifuge tubes and include a 0.22 µm Millipore Express™ membrane. Filtration involves simply attaching the unit to a sample-containing tube, flipping the tube/filtration unit over, and applying a vacuum. The unit can be used for