Company Announcements

In March, RBC Bioscience announced that Parallel Devices is distributing its nucleic acid sample preparation products in the US.

Pressure BioSciences hired EKG Sales Associates in March and added 2 of its planned 4 additional field sales directors.

Product Introductions

Innova Biosciences introduced a magnetic conjugation kit in February. It allows researchers to covalently conjugate antibodies and proteins to 0.5 µm magnetic particles without the need for extensive optimization of the conjugation reaction.

Zymo Research released in February the Discovery Series DNA and RNA purification kits, which includes 8 of the company’s most popular kits in a new 5- and 10-prep/reaction format. They are designed to maximize flexibility and provide convenience for small-volume labs.

In March, CEM launched the new iPrep Microwave Digestion Vessel for its MARS 6 system, calling it the first ever dual-seal vessel that requires no probes for precise temperature control while achieving digestion conditions unattained by any other vessel. It allows for twice the amount of sample to be prepared and allows for complete dissolution of samples previously undigestable by microwave sample preparation.

Roche launched in March the MagNA Pure 24 System for nucleic acid extraction and purification. It is designed for low- to medium-throughput customers and features on-board primary sample handling. It is IVD/CE-IVD labeled.

In  March, Empirical Biosciences launched a new Agarose Gel Extraction Kit for efficient DNA purification from agarose gel, with a maximum recovery of DNA from 100 bp to 100 kb. It is based on silica membrane technology.

Horizon Technologies introduced in March the SPE-DEX 5000 Extractor System for the extraction of semivolatile and nonvolatile organic compounds.

In May, Chromatrap, a Porvair Sciences company, introduced the improved Chromatrap FFPE ChIP-seq kit, offering a streamlined protocol for performing ChIP assays from a range of FFPE samples. The kit contains Protein A- or Protein G-based spin columns, buffers and reagents to perform 24 ChIP assays and up to 10 chromatin preparations.

Thermo Fisher Scientific launched in May the PureLink Expi Endotoxin-Free Maxi Plasmid Purification Kit, a plasmid DNA–isolation kit that allows researchers to yield up to 1.5 mg of advanced transfection-quality plasmid DNA in less than 90 minutes. It utilizes proprietary anion-exchange membrane–based columns in combination with a vacuum-assisted workflow.

In May, Analytik Jena announced the availability of its SmartExtraction technology for manual isolation of nucleic acids.

Biotage launched in May the ISOLUTE FILTER+ high-performance filtration plates. The plates are designed to prevent sample particulates from reaching the UPLC column. Typically, sample volumes up to 1,500 µL can be processed.

Porvair Sciences introduced in May a new range of 384-well filtration plates with a unique drip geometry for greater sample recovery and minimized surface and sample concentration. They are available in four different membranes with a 140 µL volume and three pore sizes.