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Analytical Chemistry

Inside Instrumentation

Technology and Business News for the Laboratory World

by Celia H. Arnaud and Ann M. Thayer
May 8, 2006 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 84, Issue 19

Microwave synthesis instrument debuts

Milestone Inc. has now launched the MultiSYNTH microwave synthesizer. The instrument is designed to allow chemists to run either a single reaction or as many as 12 reactions simultaneously. When multiple reactions are being run, reaction volumes can range from 0.2 to 40 mL. An agitation feature enables homogeneous mixing, eliminating hot and cold spots and ensuring reproducibility among multiple reactions. The system heats and cools rapidly to minimize the time spent reaching the target temperature and to enhance reaction quenching, minimize side reactions, and improve purity.

Rigaku opens user facility

Rigaku has opened a multidisciplinary analytical X-ray user facility in Cambridge, Mass. The lab is equipped with benchtop MiniLab X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence products and is available to prospective users at no cost. Academic and industrial researchers can reserve laboratory time via the Internet for instrument training, experimental methods development, and lab instrument use.

Companies name new executives

Affymetrix has announced that Susan E. Siegel is transitioning from the role of president to continue as president emeritus and an adviser, reporting to Chairman, CEO, and founder Stephen P. A. Fodor. Siegel joined Affymetrix in 1998 as senior vice president of sales and marketing before becoming president in 1999. Meanwhile, Thane Kreiner has been named senior vice president of marketing and sales. Eksigent Technologies, a creator of nanofluidic technologies for life sciences research and medical device applications, has named David Weber as its CEO and president. He joins the company from Stratagene, a life sciences research products company, where he was vice president of global marketing and business development.

Liquid-handling systems introduced

Beckman Coulter has upgraded its Biomek FXP and Biomek NXP laboratory automation workstations. Hardware changes to the two liquid-handling systems provide increased positioning accuracy for 384-well plates and other high-density labware. A new version of the Biomek software includes improved tools for organizing methods within a project. The systems work well for automating small-well applications such as polymerase chain reaction setup, sequencing setup, high-throughput genomics, and cell-based assays. Separately, CyBio is offering an eight-channel pipetting system, CyBi-DiluSpro, for automated pipetting in small and midsize laboratories. The system can use a variety of different plate and tip formats, such as 96- or 384-well microplates and three different tip volumes, and features a volume range from 0.5 to 250 µL. It is available as a four- or five-place linear system or a 10-position circular disk system and can be integrated into a number of assay platforms.

Thermo licenses ETD technology

Thermo Electron has licensed electrontransfer-dissociation (ETD) technology for use on mass spectrometers from the University of Virginia. The ion fragmentation technology provides sequence information in proteomic studies not available with conventional methods. The technology was developed in the laboratory of UVa chemistry professor Donald F. Hunt. Thermo expects to have the ETD technology available on its Finnigan LTQ mass spectrometers before the end of 2006.


Companies announce collaborations And launch products

Two companies have separately announced research collaborations and new products in the DNA microarray area.

Illumina has signed an agreement valued at nearly $7 million with Cancer Research UK to support researchers and identify potential biomarkers for prostate cancer. Illumina will perform whole-genome genotyping of more than 550,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for at least 4,000 prostate patients and controls, using its Sentrix BeadChips and Infinium assay. The company will then develop a custom 12-sample BeadChip to analyze 24,000 SNPs per sample and use it to analyze at least 8,000 samples.

Illumina has also introduced the AutoLoader, which can coordinate up to 40 high-density bead arrays for scanning, sufficient for up to 15 hours of operation. Combined with new software for the BeadStation, the AutoLoader increases system throughput by 400%.

Meanwhile, CombiMatrix and Victor Ugaz, a chemical engineer at Texas A&M University, have received a Keck Futures Initiative grant from the National Academies to develop a method to increase the speed of hybridization in DNA microarray applications. And CombiMatrix's molecular diagnostics division has opened a new facility in the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. The division has started shipping its first microarray diagnostic product, which analyzes for more than 40 defined genetic diseases and syndromes.


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