NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Labcyte today announced that Thermo Fisher Scientific has begun offering to customers the option to receive small-interfering RNA reagent libraries in Labcyte Echo qualified source plates.
The format, Labcyte said, allows customers to use the Echo liquid handler "to transfer RNAi reagents during experiments, eliminating manual handling, reducing volumes, lowering cost, and decreasing the risk of contamination." The handler uses acoustic energy to move fluids without the need for physical contact with the sample, eliminating the risk of contamination of the RNAi stocks, while allowing for easy preparation of assay-ready plates.
"Researchers show that low-volume siRNA transfections using acoustic transfer are equal or superior to those obtained with traditional liquid handlers," Mark Fischer-Colbrie, CEO of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Labcyte, said in a statement. "Cross-contamination is eliminated and transfection rates improve. Costs are further reduced with the elimination of disposable pipettes."