Researchers at the Centre for Proteomics and Genomics Research (CPGR) in Cape Town, South Africa, have established a high throughput biological research platform using Tecan systems
CPGR uses a number of automated microarray processing systems from Tecan, including an HS 4800 Pro hybridisation station with the new QuadChamber, a HydroFlex system and an LS Reloaded laser scanner.
The CPGR uses a wide range of microarray-based techniques in a variety of collaborative projects to investigate diseases that are prevalent in South Africa, such as tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, malaria and cancers.
Reinhard Hiller, managing director of the CPGR, explained: "We set up the automated platform in order to increase our assay throughput and quality, while minimizing our costs and manual procedures.
"We are now fully equipped for processing almost all existing slide-based microarray formats, including genomic DNA, microRNA (miRNA) and protein microarrays.
"We have had fantastic experience with the Tecan HS 4800 Pro hybridisation station, it is really versatile and it performs all steps of the hybridisation process, improving the quality of our results.
"Tecan has even customised our HydroFlex to provide automated incubation and washing of 16-plex protein microarray slides, such as the cytokine profiling arrays from GenTel BioSciences."
