Selected category: Tecan Labwerx

When the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic hit in 2020, researchers from the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Netherlands, felt compelled to support the national COVID-19 testing strategy, which was suffering with limited capacity. Recognizing that the gold standard PCR test worked well to identify SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, the institute’s challenges lay in the logistics and a need to automate the process. A fortuitous introduction to an automation expert from Genmab was the start of a successful collaboration, which grew to involve a number of additional partners, and has significantly increased the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 testing in the Netherlands through the development of the STRIP-1 robot.

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) have an integral role in the development of various diseases, and are therefore a key focus for many researchers investigating novel drug targets or attempting to understand more about human health. Scientists at ShanghaiTech University have implemented Tecan Labwerx™ customized laboratory solutions for compound management in their busy core facility, and are using these automated systems to process high throughput assays, ultimately resolving important GPCR structures.

GAP Peptides has developed a novel approach to synthesizing high crude purity peptides that minimizes solvent and raw material consumption, while simultaneously reducing waste. Laboratory automation is helping this start-up company to accelerate its research and development, a process crucial to achieving commercial success. The company founders have collaborated with Tecan to establish a unique liquid handling platform, designed and built specifically to meet its workflow needs.

Stem cell research has seen explosive growth in recent years, with the technology holding promise for the treatment and cure of a wide range of conditions, from cancer, diabetes and heart disease to neurological conditions, inherited disorders and conditions of aging, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The Stem Cell Institute (SCI) at the University of Minnesota, founded in 1999, was the first integrated stem cell institute to be established in an academic environment, and focuses on basic and translational research with these versatile cells.

Automation offers many benefits for bioprocess development involving multiple microbial strains, yet few off-the-shelf platforms are capable of combining liquid handling tasks with microscale cultivation. The Microbial Bioprocess Lab at Forschungszentrum Jülich needed a customized platform to support its research, and turned to the Tecan Integration Group for a solution that has improved its microbial cultivation workflows.

Degenerative eye diseases affect millions of people around the world, causing progressive loss of vision and, in some cases, complete blindness. Researchers in Australia are using stem cell technologies to investigate ways of halting, or even reversing, the effects of common eye diseases.

The High Throughput Omics Platform is an advanced microbial cultivation and sampling system designed to accelerate the development of novel biotechnology applications. Created as a collaboration between LISBP and the Tecan Integration Group, this unique system is being harnessed to investigate potential biofuels, biomaterials and biochemicals.

Scientists in the ADME Screening, Enzymology and Automation Group at Roche, Switzerland, have successfully integrated a mosquito® nanoliter liquid handling instrument with a Freedom EVO® platform, enabling accurate, precise pipetting at very low volumes.

Basel-based Novartis Pharma AG has completed a year-long collaboration with the Tecan Integration Group, developing a fully automated Freedom EVO®-based system for antibody formulation screening.

The Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie is using Tecan's Freedom EVO® workstations for systematic high throughput screening of bioactive small molecule libraries for potential research tools and targets for drug development.