The Biomek 3000-ArrayPLEX Workstation is the result of input from Affymetrix and technology acquired from the purchase of Agencourt.
The Workstation works with a variety of chemistries and chips, in addition to GeneChips, having the flexibility to perform nucleic acid preparation applications.
The workstation solution incorporates the Agencourt RNACleanT kit, which usesSolid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI) technology for the isolation and purification of RNA and DNA.
Purifying nucleic acid products are essential for common enzymatic reactions such as cDNA synthesis and in vitro transcription (IVT) reactions.
The technology is suitable for sample cleanup of reverse transcription reactions (cDNA) as well as in vitro transcription reactions (cRNA) in the Eberwine RNA amplification protocol commonly performed prior to microarray analysis.
This technique is easily performed in manual or automated formats and eliminates the need for vacuum filtration or centrifugation, resulting in a simplified process and higher yields reducing sample-to-sample variability.
It includes validated methods, processes between one and 96 samples in a single run with minimal user intervention.
"The process of target preparation for gene expression analysis is time consuming and labour intensive," said David Daniels, Applications Marketing manager for Beckman Coulter.
"Through our work with Affymetrix and our acquisition of Agencourt, we have been able to optimise our automation technology for this advanced solution."
It was in April last year that Beckman Coulter acquired Agencourt Bioscience, a provider of genomic services and nucleic acid purification products in the biomedical research market. Terms of the agreement included a payment of $100 million (€83 million) and up to $40 million of contingent payments through 2007.
This new workstation is an evolution of the higher throughput Biomek FX ArrayPLEX application, developed with Affymetrix for GeneChip customers. That validated, proven automation technology is now offered in the smaller footprint Biomek 3000-based system.
For more details of the new Biomek 3000-ArrayPLEX Workstation, visit Beckman Coulter's website.