Selected category: Cell Biology & Cell Assays

Cell separation has become instrumental in many areas of medical research over the last two decades, and Miltenyi Biotec’s MACS® Technology has become the gold standard technique, having been cited in over 20,000 publications. Combining superparamagnetic microparticles conjugated to specific antibodies with proprietary columns, this technology uses strong magnetic fields to separate specific cell types, allowing retention of both labeled and unlabeled cells for downstream analysis.

LMSM studies the effects of changing environmental parameters on the physiology of bacteria, and has recently began using this expertise to help the cosmetics industry. Many of these investigations involve absorbance-, luminescence- and fluorescence-based assays, requiring strict control of the temperature inside the microplate measurement chamber for reliable results.

California-based company zPREDICTA™ has created a novel technology that reconstructs physiologically-relevant organ-specific human microenvironments that help eliminate the guesswork from drug development. Meaningful drug discovery studies involve complex experiments that are not feasible to perform manually. Automation is the answer, improving accuracy, saving time and reducing the amount of compound used.

Genetic modification of mammalian cells is now a routine daily activity in academic and industrial R&D laboratories around the world, with viral vectors – such as lentivirus – commonly used to create new cellular models for a wide range of applications.

Scientists at Tokyo University of Technology are searching for foodstuffs that can slow the aging process. Focusing on mitochondrial regulation, researchers from the university’s School of Bioscience and Biotechnology are using cell-based assays to help identify food components with anti-aging properties.

The University of Salzburg’s Laboratory of Photodynamic Inactivation is exploring potential roles of photosensitizing agents in human health. With possible applications in areas as diverse as food decontamination and therapeutics, the lab is using a variety of photoactive compounds to generate reactive oxygen species which can kill key microbial pathogens or cancerous cells.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has automated protocols for high throughput separation of cells for therapeutic applications on a Freedom EVO® 200 liquid handling platform. The process maintains cell viability and is more rapid and reproducible than manual methods, enabling processing of 96 samples in four hours.

Researchers at the University of Montreal have benefitted from Tecan’s collaboration with SciRobotics to automate DNA assembly protocols for synthetic biology. Combining a Freedom EVO® 200 with a Pickolo™ Colony-Picker and various other components, the Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology Research Unit has built a streamlined cloning workflow with increased throughput and reliability.

Laboratory automation and LIMS specialist Mejoran Lab Automation has developed acustomized method for automated fungal colony picking on a Freedom EVO® 150 platform with an integrated SciRobotics Pickolo™ colony-picker.

Charybdis Vaccines in Italy has automated phage display/deep sequencing techniques on a Freedom EVO® platform, resulting in faster identification of bacterial antigens and protective antibodies. This system is helping to drive the development of new vaccines against pathogens of major worldwide concern.

Researchers at the innovative stem cell company Cellular Dynamics International (CDI) have developed a novel, serum-free directed differentiation protocol, based on Tecan's Cellerity™ automated cell culturing system. The new method enables the maintenance of a uniform starting population of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), leading to the generation of hematopoietic precursor cells (HPCs).

Tecan’s Freedom EVO® liquid handling platform has enabled Nurex to enhance its production of monoclonalantibodies, improving efficiency and increasing the number of clones obtained from each fusion. Nurex is a biotechnology company based in Sassari and Turin, Italy, that specializes in the production of advanced diagnostic tools for biomedical applications in genomics, proteomics and clinical diagnostics.

Scientists at the AstraZeneca Innovation Center China have developed a novel technique using a Freedom EVO® system for temperature-dependent automated preparation of cell culture plates for candidate compound screening. By precoating microplate wells with agar prior to pipetting the BD Matrigel™, the team is able to perform 3D cell-based assays in a 96-well microplate format.

A network project jointly funded by the Swiss Confederation CTI (Commission for Technology and Innovation) and Tecan, bringing together industrial, academic and clinical partners such as the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the University Hospital Balgrist in Zurich, has developed a successful automated system based on the Freedom EVO® platform. The system isolates and cultivates cells from human intervertebral disks, improving reproducibility and encompassing all-importantintegral quality control.

Scientists studying adult neurogenesis at the CRTD, the DFG Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, are using a Freedom EVO® liquid handling platform for cell culture maintenance.

Tecan and Miltenyi Biotec are working together to develop a range of automated solutions for cell biology, based on the powerful MACS® magnetic bead technology.

Researchers in the Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London (UCL), UK, have automated stem cell culture on a custom-built Freedom EVOR 100 platform.