Fritsch has found a new application for its planetary ball mills, usually used for grinding samples into powders, by extracting proteins from yeasts
Since human DNA was decoded by the Human Genome Project and the Cellera company, everyone has been talking about gene technology. Now Fritsch can also contribute to this new and exciting science. A method has been tested in collaboration with Cellzome for 'unlocking' genetically modified yeast cells very efficiently using planetary ball mills in order to obtain proteins.
The yeast suspension was poured into the grinding bowl of the mill.
The grinding ball is then filled with small 0.5mm glass balls instead of the usual 10 - 30mm balls used for grinding powders.
After only 3 - 4 minutes the yeast cells have disintegrated, which can easily be checked under the microscope. Silicon nitride was selected as grinding bowl material in order to minimise possible abrasion by friction.
It is a technical ceramic with excellent abrasion resistance.
The Pulverisette 5 planetary mill can be operated with 4 x 250ml or 8 x 80ml grinding bowls, depending on the task and the desired sample throughput.
For smaller batches, Fritsch recommends the Pulverisette 6 planetary mono mill for 1 x 250ml or 2 x 80ml grinding bowls.