Featured Article
Wednesday December 07, 2005
The advances made in automated spot pickers are quickly designating these devices as irreplaceable instruments in the lab. Input color, size, shape, or other parameters for colonies you want and the picker delivers the goods. And now your choices include products with increased versatility and flexibility. That doesn’t mean they can pinpoint your favorite shoes and shirts. But, with the device’s help, you’ll have plenty of free time for trips to the mall—or, more importantly, for getting more done in the lab.
For decades, researchers lamented the necessary but tedious task of counting and picking colonies. The need escalated as efforts to sequence the entire human genome swung into full gear. Once automated pickers became available, labs could complete the work of weeks in just one day. In fact, the need for faster methods of colony counting and picking helped to jumpstart the automation revolution, from which sprung time-saving and hands-free devices that now perform assays, preparations, and a whole range of other functions.
Known for their fast moves, automated devices have also had the reputation of carrying hefty price tags. Now you can find options that fit a tighter budget. They may not have as many bells and whistles, but the beauty of many of the latest products is that you can choose functions you absolutely must have. You can add on other conveniences later. These include plate stackers, barcode readers, and instruments that can grid, replicate, and microarray the samples.
Automated pickers use a variety of means to scan plates and hone in on the appropriate colonies. Light from either below or above the plate illuminates the colonies. A charge-coupled device captures the images and transmits the information. In addition to detecting Coomassie, silver, and other common stains, many devices now have the capability to detect fluorescing proteins, or those that are tagged with fluorescent probes.
A robotic arm with a multi-pin head picks the specified colonies, which fit into parameters that you set or choose from a preset menu. Many devices log the position of the picked colony. In between colonies, the devices wash and sterilize the pin to prevent cross contamination. The needles deposit their pickings into a variety of labware. Depending upon the next step, you can program the device to transfer the samples to Petri dishes, microplates, deep-well plates, glass slides, or nylon membranes. Some companies offer pins of several sizes that can pick spots of different diameters. Automated pickers usually come with a set of reference markers, which you can adhere to the gel backing prior to pouring the gel, or just prior to feeding it into the picker.
With this vast selection of models, such as those below, explore the options and choose the one that meets your needs. You can be assured that the design will never go out of fashion.