The Center for Emerging Viral Threats (CEVT) in Louisiana, USA, is using Integra Biosciences’ liquid handling solutions for Covid-19 testing and viral genomics studies. The products have streamlined the centre’s sample transfer protocols, leading to shorter turnaround times and supporting vital research into the prevention and control of viral respiratory diseases.
The CEVT was established in March 2020 to address the urgent testing needs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also sequenced over 18,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes as part of international efforts to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inform vaccine design. Scientists at the CEVT are using three Voyager adjustable tip spacing pipettes for sample reformatting from tubes to 96 well plates within the Covid-19 testing workflows, and for liquid transfers and bead clean-up in the genome sequencing lab. Dr Krista Queen, Director of the Viral Genomics and Sequencing lab in the CEVT, explained: “The transfer of liquids between different labware types was a huge pain point as sample reformatting by hand was an extremely time-consuming and error-prone process. The Voyager pipettes enable us to easily and quickly transfer multiple samples at a time between different labware formats. We also use two Viaflo lightweight electronic pipettes for repetitive pipetting and mixing steps in our workflows, and a Mini 96 portable electronic pipette for simple, accurate, and quick full 384 well plate stamping, making it possible for us to maintain short turnaround times and rapidly build a picture of disease prevalence.”
The facility also turned to Integra to help staff to manage its growing workload and maximise lab throughput, acquiring an Assist Plus pipetting robot to automate liquid handling protocols for influenza and RSV genome sequences, as well as community wastewater monitoring for mpox (monkeypox). The D-One single channel pipetting module for the pipetting robot will give the group the flexibility to build new projects and explore additional viral sequencing workflows going forward. Queen continued: “Our new pipetting solutions will increase our lab’s capacity and give us greater confidence in the reliability of our results. These valuable products will help the CEVT achieve its goal of becoming the region’s top surveillance lab for the detection of new viruses and other pathogens that could affect human health.”
