T100 Thermal Cycler - One of the Best

May 19, 2014

Overall

Performance

Ease-of-Optimization

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University of California San Diego (UCSD)
Medicine
Post-doctoral researcher

Company:

Bio-Rad

Product Name:

T100 Thermal Cycler

Catalog Number:

186-1096

This thermal cycler was received a few months back. And it is always in use, even on weekends. It is used most of the time to perform PCR for cloning of cDNA and other genomic regions. I also use it to set up gradient PCR to find the optimal annealing temperature for "hard to amplify" templates. I like this machine for gradient PCRs because the temperature range shown on the machine seems to be fairly accurate.

Experimental Design and Results Summary

Application

Gradient PCR to clone a 2.8 kb fragment

Starting Material

HeLa cDNA

Protocol Overview

HeLa cDNA was used as a template to set up 8X 15ul reactions (with and without DMSO) to decide the optimal temperature and reaction conditions to amplify the cDNA

Tips

The interface is user friendly and nothing specific to take care of

Results Summary

Gradient PCR helped me decide what temperature to be used for preparative PCR and it worked !!!

Features Summary

The touch screen interface is very easy to use !!

Additional Notes

The gradient runs from bottom to top, i.e. lowest temperature is at bottom and highest at top. This should be taken into consideration.

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Summary

The Good

Accurate gradient, user-friendly interface, touch screen input, tube support ring helps support even if you are using a few tubes

The Bad

Gradient running from bottom to top. Also, end of PCR is not indicated properly.

The Bottom Line

I have always liked the PCR machines by Bio-Rad, as well as a few other instruments made by them. This thermal cycler is always my first option when I am doing any PCR.

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