By offering precision sampling of individual wells, researchers can quickly select hits from primary screening plates and transfer them directly to the next screening stage without further dilution
MipTec 2005 sees the launch of TTP LabTech's Mosquito X1, a nanolitre hit-picking version of the highly successful Mosquito liquid handling system.
By offering precision sampling of individual wells, researchers can quickly select hits from primary screening plates and transfer them directly to the next screening stage without further dilution - making assay miniaturisation a reality.
With disposable pipette tips, Mosquito X1 guarantees zero cross-contamination and its unique positive displacement pipetting technology allows it to sample low volumes from any individual well in 48-, 96-, 384- or 1536-well plates, says the company.
Using the multidispense option, Mosquito X1 can dispense into multiple wells - or wells within multiple plates - from a single aspiration, thus increasing speed and saving on consumables for sample replicates.
The list of samples to be picked can be specified either from the software, or via a worklist input file which may be created by third-party tools such as Excel or a database system.
The Mosquito X1 nanolitre hit-picker can pipette accurately and reproducibly throughout the 50nl-1.2ml range, producing CVs of <10% at 50nl, and can pierce aluminium and PET plate seals with a cycle time of five seconds, says TTP Labtech.
The disposable tips eliminate cross-contamination worries, and working at such small volumes helps to reduce assay costs significantly.
The Mosquito X1 integrates with common plate handlers offering capacity for up to 200 plates and vastly increased walk-away time.
