Tecan solutions for genomics and drug discovery

Tecan, one of the leaders in laboratory automation solutions, has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of your needs. Its wide product range includes touchscreen-operated microplate readers, multi-label readers, washers and pipetting instruments. Tecan products are user-friendly, flexible and fully modular, so you can start with a small system, then expand and upgrade it as and when you need to. Tecan will customise workstations and complex integrated multi-robot systems to your exact requirements for genomics, drug discovery and other fields.

Nucleic acid extraction

Tecan has developed innovative solutions for extracting plasmid DNA which is pure enough to be sequenced directly. A Genesis robotic sample processor (RSP) fitted with an SPE module, Te-VacS, and a robotic manipulator arm (RoMa) provides fully automated processing without sacrificing quality. This system takes care of the complete process: suspension of bacteria, lysis, filtration, adsorption, washing, drying and elution. The plasmid DNA purification process in 96-well cartridges allows the preparation of 8­15 micrograms of DNA from 1.4 ml E-coli culture in under 75 minutes. Isolation of high quality genomic DNA by magnetic bead separation (MBS) directly from your samples is an important application in genomics (Fig. 1). Full automation of this process is now possible on a Genesis RSP fitted with a magnetic bead option, Te-MagS. The process includes cell lysis, formation of the DNA/bead complex, washing and release of PCR-ready DNA. Purification of genomic DNA is rapid, cost-effective and safe as it does not use toxic reagents such as phenol or chloroform.

Produce your own array

Biochip preparation and production of your own in-house arrays is becoming increasingly important for genomic applications. The miniaturisation of sample volumes is essential to keep this manageable. Tecan has now made this easier than ever before with its new nanopipetting option (Fig. 2) available on all Genesis pipetting instruments. You can aspirate oligonucleotide solutions from Eppendorfs or microplates and spot nanolitre deposits on glass slides.

Storage and retrieval

If you need to expand storage and retrieval capacity in your screening facilities then Molbank (Fig. 3), the plate storage system from Tecan, is the flexible and compact solution. Molbank holds over 2500 microplates containing hundreds of thousands of substances. Integrating your Molbank with a pipetting Workstation from Tecan creates a plate factory that prepares assay plates for HTS virtually unattended.

Hit picking

The increasing number of compounds in HTS has meant that laboratories need to handle higher throughputs in the hit-picking step. Tecan's Logistics Workstation (Fig. 4) is an increasingly essential piece of equipment for high throughput laboratories and could be the high performance hit picking system that you have been looking for. Fitting your workstation with the new nanopipetting option allows you to miniaturise your assays by using smaller sample volumes, saving you time and consumables.

Cell permeability assays

Assays to determine the permeability of cell membranes to molecules are important in drug reformulation. The need to increase the throughput of these assays is met by automation. A number of leading pharmaceutical companies have already automated their cell permeability assays on Tecan Genesis Workstations (Fig. 5). Our software and hardware are perfect for handling the delicate mono-cell layers necessary for single and bi-directional drug transport studies. Flexible modular design combined with a choice of Workstation size, allows you to optimise your protocols whatever your throughput.

The Tecan Award 2000

We are pleased to announce the first Tecan Award for innovations in microplate technology for diagnostic or life science applications

(Fig. 6). Applicants are invited to submit original research and an independent panel will judge on the contribution to scientific progress and the potential relevance to other applications. Papers must be submitted by 31st May 2000. For further details, visit www.tecan.com

Join our virtual coffee lounge

Tecan technical support staff are as knowledgeable as they are helpful - but wouldn't you like to share your experiences with other users too? The Tecan's Users' Group has a web-based avirtual coffee lounge' where you can ask questions, give advice or simply exchange information with colleagues all over the world. Visit www.tecan.com and try it for yourself.

Trust Tecan

Tecan people are experts whose aim is to help you meet the challenges facing your life sciences laboratory. If you need to automate procedures in genomics and drug discovery or increase your throughput, talk to the experts.

Enquiry No 16

Tecan AG, Feldbachstraße 80,

8634 Hombrechtikon, Switzerland.

Tel: +41/55/254 81 11; Fax: +41/55/244 38 83; e-mail: tecan@tecan.ch or www.tecan.com

Tecan Austria GmbH, Untersbergstraße 1A,

5082 Grödig, Austria. Tel: +43/62 46/89 33;

Fax: +43/62 46/72 770; e-mail: tecan-a@tecan.co.at or www.tecan.co

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