The annual SLAS meeting concluded earlier this week, but many of the products showcased at the event are worth a second, more in-depth look—or, for those of you who could not attend the meeting, a first glance. Below are some product highlights from the lab automation and screening–focused conference including the SLAS New Product Award winners.
Award-winning products
Fifty-six products were submitted for consideration for the SLAS New Product Award this year and three were chosen. This year’s winners included Andrew Alliance for its Andrew+ and Pipette+ system, a pipetting robot that uses connected electronic pipettes to enable fully automated pipetting and the manipulation and grabbing of microplates, tubes, and columns. The Pipette+ was co-developed with Sartorius.
NanoView Biosciences’ ExoView was another SLAS New Product Award winner. The ExoView platform provides high-resolution sizing, counting, and phenotyping of exosomes at the individual vesicle level. The platform can measure the size of single exosomes as small as 50 nm and determine the concentration of exosomes expressing specific surface or molecular markers with excellent sensitivity, according to the company. This microarray-based technology enables label-free detection and sizing of exosomes with no purification required, no sample prep, and minimal hands-on time.
“There is tremendous excitement in the scientific and clinical research communities around exosomes, which are already believed to be important for cardiology, regenerative medicine, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer,” said Jerry Williamson, CEO. “With the ExoView platform, for the first time scientists can fully characterize exosomes and validate their molecular cargo as biomarkers for disease. We believe this will be instrumental in ushering exosomes into routine clinical use for noninvasive testing and more personalized patient care.”
The third SLAS New Product Award winner was the Opal Chip™ from Stilla Technologies. Opal Chip is the company’s new consumable allowing optimal throughput flexibility for any digital PCR application. It can run up to 48 samples per run in two hours and 30 minutes, and it allows for 16 samples per chip and 20,000 droplets per well.
Containment enclosure
Among the products showcased at SLAS that didn't garner awards but were still notable was the AeroPROTECT 360° from Baker. The new aseptic containment enclosure maximizes product protection and meets or exceeds NSF International Standard 49 microbiological aerosol testing criteria for product and personnel protection. AeroPROTECT 360° features a series of four biocontainment enclosures designed specifically to house robotics systems, such as automatic liquid handlers.
Flow cytometer
The ZE5 Cell Analyzer from Bio-Rad is an automation-ready flow cytometer capable of accommodating a wide range of experimental complexities and throughput needs. Its fully integrated sample loader and ability to handle various types of tubes or plates without an instrument hardware change provides walk-away functionality 24/7.
“Flow cytometers used in automated workcells for high-throughput phenotypic screening labs can create a bottleneck because standard flow cytometers can be slow with limited detectors and higher-end flow cytometers may not be automation-ready,” explained Xiaoti Guo, Bio-Rad product manager. “Bio-Rad has overcome these challenges by automating its high-throughput ZE5 Cell Analyzer so that a single operator can run up to 27-color phenotypic or targeted screens continuously, up to 24 hours a day.”
Scheduling software
Biosero’s Green Button Go™ is laboratory automation scheduling software for integrated laboratory workcells. Designed to be easy and intuitive for users, it can control simple to complex workstations. The simplified drag-and-drop user interface is the portal to more advanced scheduling and operating features, such as input parameter screen development, error logging, and external notification. Additional features include time and wait functionality to simplify assays with complicated requirements and the ability to resume a run even after an unexpected computer shutdown.
“The demand for lab technicians continues to grow. Yet there are only about one-third of the workforce needed enrolled in laboratory training programs. That means labs will continue to be short-staffed for quite some time,” says Tom Gilman, CEO, Biosero. “Now more than ever, automation plays a pivotal role in lab environments, and Green Button Go is the solution to streamline and automate lab equipment in the face of labor shortages.”
Protein purification
GenScript launched the AmMag™ SA semi-automatic purification instrument at PepTalk last month but showcased the product at SLAS. Developed in collaboration with Amgen, the novel technology accelerates and simplifies protein and antibody purification, reducing the process from days to hours.
"Traditional purification instruments operate at a very low speed. Their throughput is limited to the 'one filtered sample at a time' mode of operation, rendering purification a painstakingly slow process," explained GenScript marketing director Roumen Bogoev. "The AmMag SA purification instrument produces similar results to traditional methods at a fraction of the time, offering organizations a new tool for accelerating the drug development process."
Smart pipetting
Building on its Gilson Connect platform, Gilson’s new TRACKMAN Connected kit comes preloaded with PipettePilot™, which guides researchers through pipetting protocols. It also reminds scientists to pre-wet their pipettes and helps increase traceability of the materials used in their experiment by allowing scientists to scan or type in batch serial numbers for microplates, tips, or other devices into their reports.
“Gains in reliability don’t have to come at the expense of convenience,” said Steve DeCabooter, Gilson’s director of product information platforms. “Gilson smart devices help scientists achieve verifiable science, boost experimental efficiency, and collaborate across teams with smart technology that builds best practices into their everyday routine."
Measuring binding interactions
Built to address the demands of drug discovery screening, Dianthus, from NanoTemper Technologies, removes the complexity of binding interaction measurements. According to the company, Dianthus quickly identifies and ranks hits by quantifying molecular interactions in solution. It does this for any target type in any buffer or bioliquid and measures a wide range of interactions from millimolar down to picomolar Kds, all by consuming the smallest amount of your target and library compounds.
"Speed is a huge advantage and Dianthus is really fast, screening 10,000 compounds per day, which is unmatched in biophysical drug discovery," said Amit Gupta, product manager. "That's only possible because it's very hands-off, with no fluidics so there's no cleaning or rinsing and virtually no downtime. It also uses industry-standard SBS microplates so it easily integrates into a variety of automation workflows."
Plate handling
Peak Analysis & Automation showcased its new and improved S-LAB™ automated plate handler at the meeting. According to the company, the S-LAB plate handler redefines automation by being cost-effective with the same reliability as an expensive robotic arm—making it easier for labs to automate their processes. Compatible with up to 300 different laboratory instruments, the S-LAB easily fits standard lab benches and most safety cabinets. S-LAB is easy to set up as it is supplied with its positions pre-taught and simple to control, via an intuitive user interface on a tablet, smartphone, or laptop.
NGS library prep
With its acquisition of NuGEN complete, Tecan is well positioned to offer genomic sample preparation solutions like the NGS DreamPrep™, which made its debut at SLAS. Combining automation instrumentation and NGS reagent kits for research, the new workstation offers a fully optimized solution for NGS library preparation. Bringing the Fluent liquid handler, Infinite® plate reader, and library preparation kits together, minimal manual intervention is required after the protocol is started, saving scientists time they can then use to progress their research.
“Next-generation sequencing continues to revolutionize genomic research. Previously, the technique relied on libraries being quantified and normalized using methods that were time-consuming and subject to variability. NGS DreamPrep enables users to easily transform samples into high quality, ready-to-use libraries,” explained Dr. Klaus Lun, executive vice president, head of the life sciences business division.