454 Life Sciences, a Roche company, has launched a robotic accessory module for liquid-handling systems.
The Rem E System, which enables the complete automation of emPCR enrichment in the GS FLX Titanium workflow, simplifies the sequencing workflow by replacing five hours of dedicated manual laboratory work with an automated walk-away procedure.
The module can be readily integrated into most commonly available liquid-handling platforms, providing a cost-effective solution to increase sequencing productivity and consistency for all GS FLX Titanium-series run formats, according to the company.
454 claims that the new automation solution represents one of a series of recent improvements to streamline the sequencing system's end-to-end workflow, from sample preparation through data analysis.
Last year, the company announced the launch of the GS FLX Titanium Rapid Library Preparation Kit, which takes half of the time of previously available kits and requires five to 10 times less sample DNA.
Recent upgrades to the 454 Sequencing data analysis software suite offer ease-of use improvements that are beneficial to biologists without extensive bioinformatics expertise.
These upgrades include the near 'push-button' de-novo assembly of small to medium-sized genomes, straightforward de-novo transcriptome assembly with splice variant detection and the power to assemble human-sized genomes.
