Company reports the sale of two Aj100 inkjet microarray spotters to the combined universities of Exeter and Nottingham, supplied as the mainstay for the Attogram Project
The machines were purchased by Andrew Shaw at Exeter and Professor Paul O'Shea at Nottingham, to form the mainstay microarray capability of the Attogram Project, a collaboration between the two universities, funded by the EPSRC.
Dr Shaw, senior lecturer in physical chemistry at the University of Exeter and Attogram Project principal investigator (PI), explained that the aim is: "to build a new instrument based on novel techniques which will help us screen many ideas with applications in chemical biology in the pharmaceutical industry and disease diagnosis.
"We chose the Arrayjet Aj100, as it is our plan to develop the screening technology we are designing to perform on-line analysis of compounds.
"For this to be possible, not only is it necessary to avoid damaging the surface onto which we wish to array, but also to be able to perform spot-on-spot printing in the future; this is only possible using non-contact printing technology.
"The Arrayjet spotters are the only machines which combine the necessary speed of throughput and sample capacity with the non-contact printing technology we need".
Arrayjet's sales and marketing director Duncan Hall was impressed by the systematic approach Shaw took in deciding to purchase the spotters: "We are delighted to supply the Attogram Project with our technology and to support such interesting and exciting research, the output of which could change the face of global healthcare.
"This sale follows very closely on the heels of a recent purchase by the SCGTI in Scotland and confirms that our technology is at the cutting edge of microarray printing and extremely robust."
