Confocal system is helping researchers developing the botulinum neurotoxin into a pain relief drug at Porton Down
A new TCS SP2 confocal system from Leica Microsystems is helping researchers at the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research at Porton Down to investigate pain relief properties in microbial neurotoxins.
Cliff Shone, scientific leader in the research department, said: "One of our projects is developing the botulinum neurotoxin into a pain relief drug and the confocal system is proving very useful for observing the binding and trafficking of the toxin into nerve cells." "We are very impressed with the Leica system.
We are a multi-user facility and a big selling point for us was the flexibility offered by the spectral head.
We didn't want to have to buy lots of different filters and we also needed a system that could be upgraded in the future with a multi-photon or UV option.
The software is nicely structured and intuitive and Leica is always available when we need help with a particular application.
The after sales support from Leica is excellent.
Our training has been managed very well and our questions are always answered quickly."
