Legionnaires’ Disease has recently been in the headlines due to a number of serious outbreaks around the world. Researchers at the Ensminger Lab, part of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, Canada, are using Tecan’s Infinite® M200 PRO plate reader and Gas Control Module (GCM™) to study host-pathogen interactions for Legionella bacteria. Alex Ensminger discussed the laboratory’s approach to studying this potentially deadly pathogen: “Legionella pneumophila normally grows inside amoebae and protozoa, and we need to understand how these pathogens interact with both their natural hosts and patients’ lungs. A key part of this research is to monitor bacterial growth under stable conditions, which is a very labor intensive process when performed manually.” more

Rheonix Inc, a molecular diagnostics device manufacturer based in Ithaca, New York, has integrated Tecan’s Cavro® Air Displacement Pipettor (ADP) into its  EncompassMDx™ molecular platform, providing complete automation of sample processing and analysis using Rheonix CARD® technology. The CARD system allows complete automation of nucleic acid testing of various biological sample types, including FFPE (formalin fixed paraffin embedded) samples, using a single disposable device. Each CARD contains all the pumps, valves, microchannels, reservoirs and reaction chambers required to perform a wide range of assays, using patented technology to control fluid flow. more

Tecan has launched a new online training tool – the Tecan Academy – that makes it easier than ever before for customers to optimize their instrument use. Convenient and affordable, this web-based portal is the ideal bridge between an initial introduction in the laboratory and in-depth classroom training. It enables users to improve their instrument knowledge and skills at a time and pace that suits their individual needs. Initially offered in the USA and Canada, this tool will be rolled out worldwide, providing certified training and increased productivity from the comfort of your own laboratory. more

Tecan’s Infinite® M200 PRO multimode microplate readers are helping McMaster University to introduce chemical biology undergraduates to some of the most advanced techniques routinely used in today’s laboratories. John Brennan, Canada Research Chair in Bioanalytical Chemistry and Biointerfaces, explained: “We wanted to introduce the students to the concept of high throughput bioassays and, as we already had a lot of Tecan equipment – two Freedom EVO® liquid handling platforms, a Safire™ and an Ultra Evolution™, as well as a couple of Infinite M1000s – the Infinite M200 PRO was an obvious choice.” more

BioSentinel has selected Tecan’s Infinite® F500 as the reader of choice for its high sensitivity botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) assays. Dr Ward Tucker, Director of Research and Development at BioSentinel, explained: “Our fluorescence­based BoTest® and BoCell® assays were developed using a high end, monochromator-based reader; however, we needed a more cost-effective solution that we could recommend to customers who did not already have fluorescence detection capabilities.” more

Researchers at The Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics at the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, have invested in an HS 4800™ Pro automated hybridization station and two PowerScanner™ units from Tecan for processing protein microarrays. Dr Joshua LaBaer, Director of the Center, explained: “We have adopted a unique approach to functional proteomics which involves printing the gene for the proteins on the slide and adding a cell-free extract that synthesizes the proteins in situ. The proteins are made literally an hour before we test them.” more

Scientists at the University of Toronto, Canada, have chosen generations of Tecan microplate readers to monitor the effects of environmental or drug perturbation on molecularly barcoded yeasts. The Corey Nislow and Guri Giaever laboratories – which have recently moved to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia – are responsible for monitoring the growth of large pools of barcoded yeast, simultaneously screening 6,000 mutants. Corey explained: “We first developed a workstation for this work in 2000, which consisted of four Tecan GENios™ microplate readers integrated with a multiprobe liquid handler to monitor the growth of cultures. more

Go2 Technologies, a specialized engineering solutions provider in Dayton, Ohio, has used Tecan’s Cavro Air Displacement Pipettor (ADP) to develop a novel automated method for labor­intensive sonochemical synthesis of nanoparticles for the generation of hydrogen gas. Kent Walker, Partner/Owner at Go2 Technologies, explained: “This is a very labor-intensive procedure for a single operator, and we were approached to develop an automated method that could robotically dispense, mix, sonicate and verify, essentially to produce a robotic synthesis machine to automate the manual pipetting and dispensing stages within a nitrogen-purged environment.” more