The First Annual SLAS Conference

The Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening’s (SLAS) first annual conference and exhibit was held February 4 to 8 in San Diego, California. The show unites the previously separate LabAutomation and Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) conferences, following the merger of the host organizations in 2010 (see IBO 2/15/11). The conference’s debut attracted 5,806 participants, which was a 4.2% decline from the combined attendance of 2011’s LabAutomation (4,407 attendees) and SBS (1,654) conferences.

As part of Monday’s Diagnostics session, Gregory F. Heath, PhD, senior vice president and general manager of Illumina’s Diagnostics Business Unit, presented a session on clinical applications for next-generation sequencing (NGS). According to the presentation, pharmacogenomics, oncology and histology/cytology are the fastest-growing segments of the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) market, increasing 32%, 27% and 23%, respectively. Among the most immediate opportunities for NGS in the IVD market are cancer, genetics, infectious disease and transplantation. In oncology, NGS can be used for tumor classifications; in reproductive genetics, NGS can be used for monitoring trans-generational transmission of genetic information; and for infectious disease, NGS applications include viral load monitoring and mutation detection. Sample preparation challenges discussed included sample input volumes and the different types of samples. Automation challenges include turnaround times, the number of steps in the workflow and hands-on time. Bioinformatics challenges include annotation, clinical interpretation and reporting.

Despite their recent merger, PerkinElmer and Caliper each had their own booths on the exhibit floor due to timing issues. At the show, IBO spoke with Alan E. Fletcher, PhD, PerkinElmer’s vice president and general manager of New Markets, and Achim von Leoprechting, PhD, vice president and general manager, In Vitro Solutions. The new titles reflect the reorganization of the company’s Life Sciences and Technologies division following the Caliper purchase. Mark Roskey, formerly of Caliper, has been named vice president and generation manager of Reagents, and former Caliper executive William Kruka has been named vice president and general manager of the In Vivo Imaging Business Unit. Drs. Fletcher and von Leoprechting told IBO that the company’s integration is expected to be completed in two months and that the Caliper name will be phased out.

Drs. Fletcher and von Leoprechting emphasized the new opportunities that the combination of PerkinElmer and Caliper create for meeting the full spectrum of customers’ needs. Illustrating the role of automation for a specific application, at its booth, PerkinElmer displayed a workstation for phenotypic cell screening. Dr. Fletcher highlighted how PerkinElmer’s Health Science division focuses on the genetic basis of disease and the Environmental Science division focuses on the environmental basis. Discussing Caliper’s diagnostic offerings, the executives told IBO that PerkinElmer continues to develop the products, including those for the analysis of circulating tumor cells and tissue imaging. Other diagnostic opportunities include the use of capillary electrophoresis for infectious disease detection and the development of PerkinElmer’s VisEn reagents for tissue- and cell-based biomarker detection.

At its press conference, Agilent discussed its recent acquisition of BioSystem Development (see IBO 12/15/10) and the application of its technology for antibody purification, phase display and screening, and glycan analysis. The firm also highlighted the automation of MS workflows using its RapidFire system (see IBO 3/15/11) for target screening, chemical research, forensic toxicology and diagnostics.

The SLAS 2012 exhibit consisted of 325 exhibitors in 577 booths, compared with 241 at last year’s LabAutomation conference. Innovation was clearly on show at the exhibition as a strong selection of new products made their debut. TTP Labtech launched the mosquito HV, a higher-volume version of its nanoliter mosquito liquid handlers, which use positive displacement tips. The mosquito HV is designed for volumes from 500 nL to 5 µL. The higher-volume system opens up the product to a new set of applications, including intermediate-volume serial dilutions, acoustic source plate creation, PCR, and protein crystallization scale up. Pricing begins at around $115,000.

TTP Labtech expanded its compound storage product line, introducing the arktic -80°C automated store for biological compounds. Featuring a height and depth amenable to laboratory installation, the arktic can hold up to 95,000 0.5 mL tubes and allows for the retrieval of a 96-vial rack in three minutes using a pneumatic system. Energy efficiency is provided by an optional water cooler for the condenser. The arktic is available for less than $110,000.

The company also showed the aequus sensor for automated, noncontact monitoring of HPLC supply and waste liquids. The sensor is attached to a bottle’s side using a Velcro strap or spring clips. Twelve-channel monitoring can accommodate up to six bottles with a measurement range of 100 mm.

Another lab automation company expanding on an existing platform was Labcyte. Labcyte’s Echo liquid handling system utilizes acoustic energy to dispense fluids without tips in volumes down to 2.5 nL. At SLAS, the company introduced Dynamic Fluid Analysis software, enabling the Echo to work with a wider variety of fluids, such as cell lysates, protein and DNA. An ultrasonic pulse measures the fluid properties well by well and adjusts the sound energy to make each droplet the same size. As a result, no prior calibration is required. Target applications include qPCR, which can be done with a total reaction volume of 250 nL compared with the 10 nL volumes typically used, according to the company. Another application is the quantitation of mRNA for high-throughput gene expression; an application that the company said has traditionally been too expensive to undertake. Additional applications include gene expression directly from cells using one-step lysis, the elimination of intermediate dilutions for protein crystallography workflows, and molecular diagnostics.

Hamilton launched its third-generation storage system: the BiOS -85°C storage system for housing between 250,000 and more than 10 million 1.0 mL tubes in 96-position racks. It features a sample transfer system to preserve samples during automated defrosting. Hamilton also displayed its new MICROLAB NIMBUS Enclosed workstation, which consists of a base unit and two modules. The MICROLAB NIMBUS uses either the CO-RE (compressed O-ring expansion) 96-probe multichannel head or four independent 1 mL channels and is available with an optical gripper arm with 270 degree rotation. The NIMBUS now includes eight-channel pipetting. Pricing starts at $37,000. Also for the MICROLAB NIMBUS, Hamilton released Shift-N-Scan software for manual tube scanning that moves rows of tubes and INSTINCT workstation software with wizard features and a labware library.

The company also previewed the MICROLAB XRP, featuring a vertically organized enclosed workbench in which third-party systems are stored underneath. The new platform will also feature pulsed-air pipetting for nanoliter volume ranges. The product will be released next year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific showed three new products at the show. For the Thermo Scientific Orbitor RS plate mover, the company has added the BenchTrak plate mover, which is a field upgrade available in lengths from 0.8 m to 3.6 m. For flexible workstation configuration, the BenchTrak includes quick-connect mezzanines in fixed or swing positions and side guarding. For training the Orbitor RS, the LOCamotion wizard was released. Thermo also introduced the Momentum 3.0 automation control and scheduling software, which features a work list feature for around-the-clock operation. Also on display was the latest version of the Cytomat Incubator, which can hold up to 210 plates. Robotic access is from the back and side, enabling simultaneous loading and unloading. The transfer time is four to five seconds, compared with 10 seconds with the previous version.

Tecan exhibited its new Liquid LiHa technology, making it the only vendor to provide both liquid and air displacement dispensing technologies for its liquid handlers. The Air LiHa offers a volume range of 0.5 µl to 1000 µl per channel. The air liquid-handling arm is available for an upgrade to Freedom Evo liquid handler customers. The arm begins shipping in March at a price comparable with the Liquid LiHa.

Tecan also displayed its monochromator-based Infinite M1000Pro microplate reader, introduced two months ago, which replaces the M1000. It features an upgraded luminescence module for AlphaScreen and AlphaLISA assays as well as a temperature probe to monitor each well. New features also include double orbital shaking and compatibility with Tecan’s NanoQuant Plates.

Beckman Coulter displayed a Biomek FXP-based automated solution for high-throughput fragment library preparation for next-generation sequencing. SPRIWorks HT also enables automated PCR set up in addition to library construction and features a throughput of 96 libraries in six hours or less. The system includes SPRIWorks HT kits and automated protocols. The system can do size selection per well, allowing multiple applications per run, and is currently validated for Illumina sequencers.

CyBio launched the CyBi-FeliX benchtop liquid handler, which allows multichannel or single-channel pipetting in column or row format. A new CHOICE Head enables use with volumes of 500 nL to 1 mL through automatically loaded adaptors, which allows for serial dilutions. Also, a two-level deck enables 12 deck positions. System pricing ranges from $50,000 to $80,000. The firm also displayed the ProNEDx Robot, featuring a wider reach than the previous version.

Douglas Scientific showed its Nexar automated system for homogenous ELISA assays using AlphaLISA assays. The firm’s Array Tape platform, which was introduced in 2008, consists of a polypropylene strip of embossed reaction wells in customized volumes ranging from 6 nL to 800 nL that provides a low-cost alternative to microplates. A spooled reel holds the equivalent of 200 microplates. The firm’s genotyping system has been used for high-throughput, low-volume applications, such genotyping plants and herd animals.

LabVantage launched version 6.0 of its namesake LIMS, which incorporates features of the acquired SQL*LIMS product line (see IBO 6/30/09), such as the Navigator for detailed hierarchical data. LabVantage Connect allows for direct connection to instruments, eliminating the use of third-party solutions. Version 6.0 integrates with Waters’s Empower chromatography data system and allows for the creation of fields to define test attributes.

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