The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has purchased the microfluidic-based LabChip 90 automated electrophoresis system to quality control DNA and protein within its Atlas of Protein Expression project
The goal of the project is to systematically study the way proteins are expressed, or produced, in cells and tissues and to create a quality, information-rich database of protein expression profiles accessible to the worldwide research community.
The Sanger Institute uses Caliper's LabChip 90 system to generate quantitative sizing, concentration, and purity data for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products, expressed proteins, and the antibodies used for immunohistochemistry experiments.
The ability to machine microfluidic chips that are inherently more reproducible than traditional slab gels, combined with the fact that the LabChip 90 system generates real-time electronic data suitable for inter-laboratory data sharing, makes the system a good match for the project's goals.
The system also allows researchers to process multiple experiments at the same time and generate multiple data views.
"We are consistently looking for tools that can save time and redundancy in our research process," said Michael Dyson, project leader, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
"For this leading-edge project, we need to deploy and integrate systems that reduce intensity of human effort and provide high quality data.
"The Sanger Institute's use of the LabChip 90 system is an ideal example of how our microfluidic and automation technologies are bringing value to high-throughput, collaborative experimentation," said Kevin Hrusovsky, president and chief executive officer of Caliper Life Sciences.
"We believe this kind of collaborative academic research will remain essential to the advancement of life science research, and we are excited to be contributing innovative tools and technologies to the process."
