30/06/10: 50% off Stratagene Virtual Freezer
June 30, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Researchers: get 50% off your first order when you open a Stratagene Virtual Freezer account with Agilent. Most people will ask the question “what is a Virtual Freezer?” In short, it is like having a departmental freezer, containing various reagents you use regularly, e.g. qPCR reagents, competent cells, cloning kits etc. However, in this case, Agilent keeps your products in a warehouse and ships directly to you when you need them. Delivery is 24 hours with free shipping. You can learn a bit more here, or by watching the video below.
Of course, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
17/06/10: Recent publications show EnBase gives high cell density and recombinant protein production
June 17, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Two new publications currently in the Microbial Cell factories top ten feature EnBase from BioSilta.
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Researchers interested in testing out BioSilta’s EnBase products, please contact me.
16/06/10: Scaling PCR Workflows from Benchtop to Automation
June 16, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Genetic Engineering News (GEN, http://www.genengnews.com/) is holding a webinar, June 29, 2010 at 1900 CET.
The webinar will be titled “Scaling PCR Workflows from Benchtop to Automation.”
| What Will Be Covered: | |
| • | When to consider moving to a liquid handling robot |
| • | What constitutes good practice for using a robot |
| • | Basics of robot use for precision pipetting for qPCR |
| • | Scaling up from a lab bench to an automated system |
| • | Using robots for setting up real-time qPCR assays on 96- and 384-well plates. |
| • | The benefits of using LATE-PCR on the single-cell scale |
| Who Should Attend: | |
| • | Scientists sequencing DNA/RNA for small- and large-scale sequencing |
| • | Scientists making decisions about moving to PCR automation |
| • | Scientists working in core genomics facilities |
| • | Scientists amplifying nucleic acid from single-cell samples for genetic and infectious disease diagnostics |
| • | Scientists using PCR for clinical sample characterisation |
| Panelists Include: | |
| • | Gregory L. Shipley, Ph.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Director, Quantitative Genomics Laboratory, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston |
| • | Lawrence J. Wangh, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Global Health, Brandeis University |
| • | David Knorr, Ph.D., Applications Manager, Automation Solution Instruments, Agilent Technologies, Inc. |
16/06/10: SurePrint G3 Promotor Arrays Now Available
June 16, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Agilent are pleased to announce the launch of new SurePrint G3 Promoter Microarrays. As the G3 product portfolio continues to expand, Agilent have updated the content for catalog human and mouse products using the latest genomic databases. These microarrays will be available as 1x1M and 2x400K formats enabling four times the density and coverage capabilities as compared to the existing SurePrint HD formats. They will be available as kits of 5 slides each and as single slides.
For more information on these slides, please visit the product page on the Agilent website here.
07/06/10: New Ergonomic “Pull” Cap Microcentrifuge Tubes
June 7, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
ErgoTubes are the latest product release from BioCision (the CoolRack company). These are easier to use than conventional “flip” top microcentrifuge tubes. So, they will help with your sore thumbs! Secondly, because your thumb does not pass over the top of the tube during opening, there is reduced risk of contaminating your sample.
Read some more about ErgoTubes here.
These products work optimally with precision engineered products like the BioCision CoolRacks.
07/06/10: Methods Paper on Rapid Quantification of DNA Libraries for NGS Sequencing
June 7, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Agilent has developed a very nice qPCR-based method for quantifying NGS libraries. This application gives researchers a useful and fast tool for their NGS workflows. At the Science Direct website, you can find a paper describing the technique and other benefits of using it. For example, the authors “find that qPCR quantification may allow improvements to current NGS workflows, including reducing the amount of library DNA required, increasing the accuracy in quantifying amplifiable DNA, and avoiding amplification bias by reducing or eliminating the need to amplify DNA before sequencing.”
The relevant product page on the Agilent Genomics website can be found here.
07/06/10: Generating Long Amplicons
June 7, 2010 by Peter · Leave a Comment
Agilent’s molecular biology reagent portfolio contains many interesting enzymes and reagents. For researchers doing cloning through PCR, you might be interested to learn that in an upcoming publication, Herculase II Fusion DNA Polymerase will be highlighted for its ability to perform long range PCR, exceeding 20kb in length, with a modified protocol.
The procedure overcomes many of the limitations currently experienced with Taq blends which have been the only option for long range PCR until now. With Herculase II Fusion DNA Polymerase, long amplicons can be generated and analyzed in a single day with high fidelity and a significant proportion to be error free. Herculase II is recommended over other fusion polymerases because of the ability to overcome dUTP poisoning. This phenomenon can occur during long amplifications due to long extension times and prolonged exposure of nucleotides to heat causing conversion of dCTP to dUTP and leading to PCR poisoning.
For researchers wishing to generate longer amplicons (greater than 20kb), Herculase II Fusion DNA Polymerase is recommended with the new protocol for cycling and buffer conditions. Please contact me, using the contact page, if you are interested.
