Problem: Achieving successful PCR (polymerase chain reaction) results requires proper control of many factors and parameters. The yield—quantity and quality—of amplified DNA is often essential for downstream applications and ultimately successful completion of experimental research. PCR reagents, consumable sample vessels, and the thermal cycler instrument must all be properly chosen for the specific PCR application, and must also meet quality and performance requirements. In addition to these components that must work correctly in conjunction, sample preparation is typically done manually and must be done with care and accuracy.

Microplate handlers are specialized robotic devices that transfer microtiter plates in three dimensional space from one location within a workflow to another. The “locations” are actually operations such as solvent addition (through liquid handling), aspiration, heating, shaking, incubation, washing, reading, and storage.

SLAS2015 is fast-approaching, taking place February 7-11 in Washington, DC.

Every year, we see research facilities moving toward more automation, and recent issues of Lab Manager highlight some of the newest equipment on the market. Many laboratory tasks are labor-intensive and the sheer number of tasks performed, such as washing and sterilizing containers and installing and disposing samples and wastes, are becoming too time-consuming. Thus, complex equipment, such as sonicators, washers, autoclaves, and autosamplers, is becoming a necessity and is much more prevalent.

Registration for SLAS2015 is now live. Be sure to join the Society and 5,000 of your peer researchers, scientists, engineers and academic professionals in Washington, DC for this fourth annual conference and exhibition dedicated to scientific technology and automation.

With an ever-increasing number of multimode microplate readers on the market, it is more important than ever to choose the right solution for your laboratory and workflow.

Through commands, autonomous devices arrange selves into vast, complex shapes.

3M Food Safety is marking the 30^th anniversary of the introduction of its revolutionary 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates, the worldwide standard for fast, simple, easy-to-interpret indicator testing.

Get fun facts about microplate technology, lists of questions to ask when buying microplate handlers and readers, the most recent microplate handler and reader releases, and an updated microplate handler and reader manufacturer's list in this section.

While fully manual operations can be built around microplate formats, doing anything substantive without a microplate reader is virtually impossible. Detection modes define the instrument’s experimental capabilities.

Problem: A laboratory scientist’s time is extremely precious, with a multitude of tasks to complete in order to produce meaningful data. With the vast majority of drug discovery research facilities and a growing number of academic laboratories now utilizing automated workflows, it is essential that they can be designed and set up with ease, regardless of their complexity.

Biochemical and cell based assays using a microplate reader provide quantitative data on ex vivo cell behavior, while viewing cells with a microscope allows researchers to see cellular and intra-cellular processes via fixed cells or with live cell imaging.  Both methods are equally important to life science research and the drug discovery process.  Together, these methods provide valuable, content rich data that otherwise requires the expense of multiple instrumentation.