Synbiosis' Protocol 2 automated colony counter is being utilised at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to count colonies of yeast used as a model system for human DNA repair research.
Geneticists in the Department of Biology at Emory University are using Protocol 2 to count colonies of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to accurately assess how many yeast cells can repair their DNA after they have been subjected to various types of mutagenesis.
In general, repair systems in S cerevisiae are good models for human repair.
Therefore, scientists at Emory believe that showing why and how cells repair their DNA in this yeast could help better understand and treat human diseases - such as colorectal cancer - associated with DNA mismatch repair defects.
'Protocol 2 can count colonies according to size or colour - occasionally we use marker genes that colour colonies red; after mutagenesis, yeast cells can sometimes vary greatly in size,' said Gray Crouse, professor of Biology at Emory University.
'To have a segregated count of different sizes or colours is an amazingly useful feature for us,' Crouse continued.
'Most importantly, Protocol 2 indicates every colony it has counted with a dot so we can manually review tricky areas,' he added.
