NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Thermo Fisher Scientific and Hamilton will partner to provide automated platforms and reagents for customers in the human identification market, the firms announced today.
The non-exclusive agreement will provide forensics customers with "fully automated platforms and reagents to eliminate potential manual errors and increase productivity in the lab," according to a statement. Thermo will now offer Hamilton instruments and consumables — a number of which are optimized for the Applied Biosystems family of products — in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and China.
Specifically, the firms noted that Thermo will supply the following Hamilton instruments to automate Applied Biosystems protocols: the ID STARlet Extraction system, which automates the DNA extraction process from forensic samples using Applied Biosystems PrepFiler kits; ID STARlet PCR system, which automates Applied Biosystems quantification and PCR amplification kits; and ID STARlet Complete, which automates Applied Biosystems DNA extraction, quantification, and PCR amplification kits.
In addition, Thermo Fisher will be a source for the Hamilton ID Express 2 and 4 CE Setup instrument, which eliminates manual pipetting steps to automatically set up fragment analysis experiments on the capillary electrophoresis instruments, as well as the AutoLys STAR 4x4 for sample lysis and DNA purification, a hands-free automation solution for lysis and DNA extraction from dried blood and saliva stains, swabs, paper punches, cigarette butts, hard tissues, and other forensic specimens residing on solid surfaces, the firms said.