THE LABORATORIES at Labor Krone and Imoltec (Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences), Germany, have taken delivery of a Thermo Scientific KingFisher Flex magnetic particle processor to enhance research into H1N1 screening.
Kingfisher Flex from Thermo Scientific boosts influenza research
After the 2009 ‘swine flu’ pandemic (Influenza A H1N1), researchers at the labs realised that faster detection of viral pathogenesis would be a major boost for their clinical and epidemiological work. Head of department Dr Carsten Tiemann selected the KingFisher Flex system in order to streamline workflows and minimise turnaround times.
“As viral strains mutate, they become harder for the immune system to fight, and pose a significant threat to the general public health,” said Dr Tiemann. “In our work with infectious diseases, specifically H1N1 screening, we found the KingFisher Flex to be extremely fast and reliable for nucleic acid extraction for subsequent downstream analysis.”
Using the Kingfisher Flex system, researchers have increased throughput to up to 96 samples per hour.
KingFisher Flex uses magnetic separation for the rapid preparation of nucleic acids, proteins or cells. The 24-rod magnetic head, in combination with a 24-well deep plate, allows users to process volumes up to 5ml. For higher throughputs, 96 samples can be processed from 20-1000ul total volume using the 96-rod magnetic head and 96-well deep or shallow plates.