Innovative microplate and reader technologies
Gotcha: high-content analysis of non-adherent cells in picolitre wells
High-content analysis of living cells usually requires the control of spatial distribution of cells during the course of an experiment, often for longer periods of time and in the context of various biological manipulations. As a result, high-content assays for non-adherent and non-anchored cells are therefore not yet widely available. This may be about to change thanks to a recent innovation from Bar-Ilan University in Israel - the microplate cell retainer (MCR). MCR technology involves the retention of cells in uniquely designed concave microlenses that function as picolitre wells, and which are arrayed at the bottom of conventional microtitre plates. [More]
A perfect mismatch: high-throughput optical detection of mutations
Completion of human genome sequencing efforts has enabled the systematic search for novel mutations, primarily through the genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNP detection and genotyping is nevertheless still an expensive and time-consuming challenge in areas such as clinical diagnostics, forensics, and pharmacogenomics. To address this challenge, an Australian research team has devised an inexpensive and straighforward method for the detection of polymorphisms and mutations which is based on the use of a standard UV/Vis microplate reader. [More]
A thousand points of light: high-throughput quantification of chemotaxis
Chemotaxis, the directional migration of cells in response to concentration gradients of chemokines, has traditionally been assayed using filter-based devices known as Boyden chambers. A multiwell version of the Boyden assay has recently been taken one step further through the use of cells expressing a bioluminescent reporter, thereby enabling the rapid quantification of chemotaxis in microtitre-plate format for high-throughput screening applications. [More]
