Packard Bioscience of Meriden, Conn. has launched its SpotArray microarray production system. The system uses Packard’s non-contact piezoelectric method for printing microarrays. The system includes error correction and dispense verification features, making it over 99 percent accurate, said Packard. The system, which works with a variety of samples including oligos, cDNAs, proteins, and peptides, can also retrieve non-dispensed sample, the company said.
V&P Scientific of San Diego, Calif. has introduced a new VP 474 Pin Dryer for its arraying robots. The pin dryer helps speed the evaporation of the isopropanol alcohol in the final wash reservoir before the arrayer proceeds to the next set of wells. The dryer, which is made for the microarrayer’s pinhead, involves minimal extra air flow, preserving the environmental conditions surrounding arraying. “It just takes seconds,” said Patricia Koutz, V&P’s director of R&D. The arrayer, which is selling for $99, is activated when placed in a cradle.
V&P has also begun selling a new VP 471 Cooling Block kit for researchers who want to minimize the amount of sample evaporation.
Stratagene is now offering QuickSpot PCR, pre-amplified GeneConnection Discovery clones that allow researchers to go directly to the arraying step. Researchers can purchase a whole set or select only products from genes of interest. The company has also added to its portfolio an EXL DNA polymerase, which is tailored to amplify especially long strands of DNA. Stratagene sells EXL DNA polymerase with an optimized PCR buffer for extreme target lengths, a stabilizing solution, and DMSO.