Transgenic animals have been a boon to scientific progress. But long hours spent microinjecting can cause fatigue and reduced efficiency as workers repetitively switch focus between injection and viewing equipment. Microscope manufacturer Leica Microsystems Inc. has teamed up with Eppendorf AG to create the Leica AS TP transgenic platform, an automated system that allows users to keep their eyes on the specimen while adjusting multiple equipment parameters with a single hand movement.
The companies, based in Wetzlar and Hamburg, Germany, have linked the Leica DM IRE2 inverted research microscope's electronics and Eppendorf's TransferMan NK2 micromanipulators in a new control unit concept. From either of the system's two units, if the user switches to a lower-power objective to view an oocyte cluster, for example, the unit will decrease the illumination level, increase the micromanipulators' speed, and increase the movement of the motorized stage if present. As a result of these synchronized...
Interested in reading more?
Become a Member of
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
