New product introduction product release from Bruker Biospin.
At Pittcon 2009, Bruker BioSpin announces its new 263 GHz Avance Solid-State DNP-NMR spectrometer, the world’s first commercially available solid-state NMR system that takes advantage of the inherent dramatic sensitivity enhancements enabled by the Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) technique. The system consists of an Avance™ III NMR spectrometer, configured for solid-state NMR, combined with a high-power gyrotron microwave source and specialized low-temperature DNP/NMR probe in an easy to use, integrated and industrialized package.
Solid State DNP-NMR has been pioneered and championed by Professor Robert Griffin and Dr Rick Temkin at MIT, with the aim of providing a mechanism to greatly enhance the NMR sensitivity of solid materials. By transferring the magnetization from electron spins to the nuclear spins, signal enhancement factors of ~50 times and up to 150 times can be achieved. This enables researhers to study samples that otherwise would have been inaccessable to NMR, such as certain membrane proteins or samples which are available only in very limited amounts or dilute concentrations.
The signal enhancement is achieved by delivering high-power microwave irradiation (263 GHz) to the electron spins, generated by Bruker’s new, robust and easy-to-use gyrotron system. The NMR samples are typically spun at the magic angle at a temperature of about 100 Kelvin using Bruker’s novel low-temperature MAS probe and the NMR experiments are performed with an Avance III 400 WB system.
“The availability of a turn-key DNP-NMR system removes the barrier for researchers to explore the exciting new possibilities offered by the incredible potential increase in signal-to-noise from DNP,” commented Dr. Werner Maas, Executive Vice President of Bruker BioSpin. “This novel and unique commercial DNP-NMR system greatly expands the range of applications in solid-state NMR.”
“Bruker’s DNP-NMR system opens up new possibilities for research in the fields of biological solids and nano-materials,” added Professor Robert Griffin, Director of MIT’s Francis Bitter Magnet Lab. “Our own DNP applications to large scale proteins have revealed information previously inaccessible by NMR or any other analytical technique.”
Pittcon 2009 will soon be upon us, and I am hearing from many of the companies that will be at the exhibit hall displaying their wares. Hopefully for all concerned, the hall will be full of scientists, managers and purchasing people eager to spend their bosses equipment budget despite the economic downturn.
When Pittcon is in Orlando or New Orleans, I am a regular. As much as I love Chicago in the spring, summer and fall, in mid to late winter, Chicago is about as much fun to visit as is New England where I’m from. So for this year I’ll be content to check out the Pittcon website during the show to see what’s happening.
One of the companies that will be there is JASCO. It seems that the R & D people have been busy little bees for the last year or so. They have come out with a couple of interesting new products.
JASCO will be showing their Preparative SFC system with chiral detection at Pittcon this year.
The heart of the system is JASCO’s patented back pressure regulator which allows control of system pressure no matter what the solvent composition and flow rate may be. Their pumping system is based on the 2000 series analytical SFE/SFC system. It can deliver up to 120 ml/minute of CO2 and 60 ml/minute of modifier and flush solvents at pressures of up to 5,000 psi. Injections can be done either manually or fully automated.
Jasco will be showing this product at Pittcon at Booth #4838. Stop in and visit. (more…)
Invitrogen/Life Technologies will be showing their new BenchPro 4100 Western Processing Device at Pittcon this week. The BenchPro 4100 is a bench-top system designed to automate the processing of routine washing and incubation steps for Western Blotting. By automating Western blotting it will simplify protein analysis workflows.
Western blotting is used to detect specific proteins in biological samples by using gel electrophoresis. After being separated, proteins are moved to a membrane where they can be identified using antibodies specific to that particular protein. The BenchPro 4100 Western Processing Device completely automates the process, which currently takes about three hours.
The new system includes the BenchPro 4100 Card Processing Station and the BenchPro 4100 Western Cards. The cards hold the Western blot membrane that is being analyzed by the card processing station. The single-use, disposable cards eliminate the problem of experimental cross-contamination. Another benefit of the cards is the reduction of clean-up, and hands-on work while maintaining the quality of experimental results. The card-processing station is programmable to enable various Western processing protocols and can process up to four samples in parallel with a variety of reagent combinations.
The BenchPro 4100 device builds upon the success of Invitrogen’s iBlot Dry Blotting Device, a high-efficiency protein transfer machine that enables researchers to reliably blot proteins from polyacrylamide gels in seven minutes or less without the need for additional buffers or an external power supply. The iBlot device can be used to simplify the transfer of proteins onto a membrane that can then be processed by the BenchPro 4100 device.
Life Sciences is based out of Carlsbad, California and is the result of the combining of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems. They make systems, consumables and services used in life science research. Sales are in the $3.5 billion dollar range, and they employ about 9,500 people world-wide.
- RainDance Technoologies RDT 1000 System
RainDance Technologies, based out of Lexington, Massachusetts designs, manufactures and sells microdroplet based solutions for use in lab research in life science.
Recently, at the 2009 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology Conference, RainDance announced they have begun accepting orders for the RDT 1000 system and have actually begun commercial production of the product components for shipment during the first quarter of this year.
The RainDance product incorporates their RainStorm Technology for targeted sequencing applications of the human genome. The reason the product is called Rainstorm lies in the way it works. Their technology creates picoliter sized droplets at a rate of 3,000 per second, or just over 10 million per hour! Each droplet is the equivalent of an individual test tube, and can contain a single molecule, reaction or cell.
With that kind of speed, I guess it would not be far-fetched to say that they are raining on their competitors parade.
The high speeds and tiny volumes allow the RainDance product to have increased thruput compared with today’s current platforms. Obviously, the end result means an increase in efficiency and precision and a reduced volume of reagents being used by their customers.
RainDance Technologies was founded in 2004, and is currently based out of Lexington, Massachusetts, but I believe they were originally located in Guilford, Connecticut at one time. RainDance was founded by scientists from Harvard University, The Medical Research Centre in Cambridge, England, and the ESPCI in Paris.
Their initial target market will focus on the sequencing of the human genome. The RDT 1000 system is expected to enable the high-resolution analysis of genetic variation between individuals and populations at a level unmatched by anything in the market today.
For more detailed information, check out the RainDance website at www.raindancetech.com.
NanoInk DPN 5000 Dip Pen Nanolithography System
Nanoink has just introduced their next generation Dip Pen Nanolithography system for desktop nanofabrication. Dubbed the DPN 5000, it evolved from their older NSCRIPTOR DPN system. The new version has greater control and performance than the old version.
The DPN 5000 offers versatile nanopatterning capabilities as well as high performance Atomic Force Microscopy imaging for real-time characterization of the deposited patterns.
The new system has a new ultra-low noise scanner with closed loop flexur technology to make for accurate and repeatable nanoscale patterns. For subsequent imaging of substrates they have a low coherence laser with a reduced laser spot size. That guarantees high quality lateral force imaging. Also their enhanced lithography software, InkCAD 4.0 has improved control of tip based patterning, along with nanoscale mapping and positioning. That allows users to precisely position multiple features even if created from different materials.
The DPN 5000 has a full range of enabling MEMS based ink delivery consumable items such as single probes, 1D passive probe arrays, individually actuated Active Pen Arrays, 2D probe arrays with up to 55,000 pens, inkwells for coating tips, and substrates to be written on. As a result, researchers can create nanostructures using proteins, DNA, nanoparticles and polymers.
NanoInk specializes in nanometer scale manufacturing and applications for both the life science and semiconductor industries. They are located North of Chicago in the new Illinois Science and Technology Park. They have over 140 patents and applications filed world wide.
Biotage will be showcasing their new products the ISOLUTE SLE+ and EVOLUTE at the upcoming Pittcon show in Chicago starting March 9, 2009.
Biotage says that ISOLUTE SLE+ supported Liquid Extraction plates will rapidly replace traditional protein precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction and solid phase extraction protocols because chemists are able to develop methods quickly with analyte recovery and well-to-well reproducibility. Problems such as emulsion formulation and automated pipetting of liquid layers will also be avoided, since the two phases do not come into direct contact. It will eliminate all off-line steps and is said to cut sample preparation time in half.
At the same time that Biotage is showing the ISOLUTE SLE+, the EVOLUTE series of sample prep products for the quick removal of phospholipids, salts and proteins in bioanalytical samples will be shown. These products will allow scientists to use a generic approach for a wide range of compounds, thereby reducing method development time while producing clean extracts.
The EVOLUTE ABN is an advanced water-wettable polymer-based sorbent that extracts acidic, basic and neutral analytes from biological fluids and other aqueous matrices. Developed for analyte quantification by LC/MS/MS, EVOLUT ABN’s optimized pore structure minimizes the retention of high molecular weight endogenous materials present in complex sample matrices.
EVOLUTE CX is a mixed-mode resin-based SPE sorbent that extracts a wide range of basic drugs from biological fluid samples. EVOLUTE CX removes matrix components such as proteins, salts, non-ionizable interferences, and phospholipids, delivering cleaner extracts with reproducible recoveries for accurate quantitation.
Biotage is Headquartered in Uppsala Sweden and their products are used in a wide range of applications including Medicinal Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Process Development.
If you would like to see these new products in action, Biotage will be at Booth 367 3 at Pittcon 2009 from March 8 to March 12, 2009.
For more information on Biotage, you can go to their website at www.biotage.com.
Promega, out of Madison, Wisconsin just announced the launch of a new product called the StemElite ID System. It was designed for use in human cell line authentication in research applications. It will allow scientists to validate the authenticity and purity of their human cell lines before submitting their results for publishing. Since cross-contamination between cell lines is a potentially serious problem, Promega feels that StemElite ID should give scientists more confidence in the integrity of their results.
It is similar to the Promega PowerPlex in that it incorporates the short tandem repeat analysis technology (STR) that is already in use world-wide for genetic identity in forensics labs. The kit provides the reagents needed for co-amplification and three color detection of DNA fragments in a single tube.
Promega was founded in 1978, and is currently still privately held. They have over 900 employees world-wide and sell in excess of 2,000 different products. Their products are used in Genomics, Proteomics and Cell Analysis. They are also used to support Molecular Diagnostics. They are said to hold in excess of 200 patents in areas such as Nucleic Acid Purification, Human ID, Bioluminescence and Cell Biology.
According to their website, their sales are over $220 million per year, and they invest 11% of their revenues in R & D, which is higher than average.
Eksigent ExpressHT-Ultra HPLC
Eksigent may be one of the smaller players in the analytical equipment market, but they never seem to disappoint. They always come out with interesting new products. This one is no exception.
Eksigent Corporation out of Dublin, California will be showing their new HPLC during Pittcon. Called the ExpressHT-Ultra HPLC system, it is claimed to provide short cycle times and high throughput for LC/MS studies in the Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism areas. The cycle times are said to be as short as 60 seconds. The machine can run six 96-well sample plates overnight.
It has been designed for use in hi thruput bioanalysis. Eksigent scientists say the reproducibility is excellent and saves up to 95% on solvents. For those of us who are hitting Pittcon, it should be an interesting product to check out.
Eksigent was founded in May of 2000. They have partnered with many of the major players in their market, including Beckman Coulter, ABI, Merck, Thermo, Bruker and Chiral Technologies. They have a diverse product line which includes a Nano LC for Proteomics, the express-HT for DMPK, express LC for pharmaceuticals, an express-RT for Reaction Monitoring and a NanoFlow metering system, as well as their well-known line of ChromXP HPLC columns.
ExpressHT-Ultra HPLC system in action
Click the above link to check out the Ultra in action.
For more general information, check out their website at www.eksigent.com
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