Agilent Technologies Introduces First Fully Automated Lab-on-a-Chip System for Life Science Research.PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif. -- Agilent 5100 Provides Unattended Analysis of Thousands of DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. and Protein Samples per Day Agilent Technologies This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) today introduced the industry's first fully automated, high-throughput Lab-on-a-Chip system for basic life science research and drug discovery. The Agilent 5100 Automated Lab-on-a-chip Platform provides unattended analysis of thousands of DNA and protein samples per day. The system is designed to replace tedious, time-consuming gel electrophoresis gel electrophoresis n. Electrophoresis performed in a gel composed of agarose, polyacrylamide, or starch. , thereby facilitating large-scale genomic and proteomic applications. Although one of the oldest and most widely used analytical techniques, gel electrophoresis suffers from a lack of automation, low reproducibility and difficulties in comparing data. The Agilent 5100 provides two key advantages over gel electrophoresis -- full automation and reproducible, digital data. The system automates the entire electrophoresis workflow of sample handling and analysis, lowering per-sample analysis time by a factor of 10 and allowing unattended analysis of up to 3,840 samples per run. It minimizes sample and reagent use, which reduces hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. and per-sample cost. Unlike the highly variable, subjective data of gel electrophoresis, the Agilent 5100 provides reproducible, comparable data due to its automation and use of internal reference standards. The digital data can be archived and data-mined with multiple filters and queries. All data is stored within an Oracle(R) database, which enables users to easily analyze millions of data points and thousands of samples. "The potential advantages of this unit to our operation are immense," said Neil Winegarden, head of operations for the microarray center of the Ontario Cancer Institute The Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), Canada's first dedicated cancer hospital, opened officially and began to receive patients in 1958, although its research divisions had begun work a year earlier. , Toronto. "We believe this unit will allow us to have much greater control over our QC procedures, providing higher-quality data over our traditional methodologies." The Agilent 5100 processes samples from industry-standard 96- or 384-well plates, 10 of which can be inserted at a time. An automated, robotic handling mechanism loads the sample with reagents and internal reference standards onto a microfluidic chip for separation and detection. The system software automatically analyzes the results, generating high-quality digital data as well as a gel-like image and electropherogram. All resources required for analysis, including samples, reagents, chips, and pipette pipette /pi·pette/ (pi-pet´) [Fr.] 1. a glass or transparent plastic tube used in measuring or transferring small quantities of liquid or gas. 2. to dispense by means of a pipette. tips, are stored within the benchtop instrument. Two assays, consisting of chip and reagents, are initially available for the Agilent 5100: --The DNA 1000 HT-4 kit for qualitative and quantitative verification of polymerase chain reaction polymerase chain reaction (pŏl`ĭmərās') (PCR), laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA; the process is (PCR PCR polymerase chain reaction. PCR abbr. polymerase chain reaction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ) and multiplex PCR samples or for screening of double-stranded DNA fragments. --The Protein 200 HT-2 kit for sizing and quantification of proteins during purification or protein expression experiments. Each Agilent 5100 chip can be reused several thousand times before replacement. More information, including video demonstrations, about the Agilent 5100 platform is available at www.agilent.com/chem/5100ALP (language) ALP - A list processing extension of Mercury Autocode. ["ALP, An Autocode List-Processing Language", D.C. Cooper et al, Computer J 5:28-31, 1962]. . Availability The Agilent 5100 Automated Lab-on-a-chip Platform is available now. About Agilent's Lab-on-a-Chip Technology Agilent Technologies' lab-on-a-chip technology is based on the principles of microfluidics, the manipulation of minute amounts of liquid in miniaturized systems. In the life sciences, lab-on-a-chip devices enable various qualitative and quantitative biochemical analyses to be conducted quickly and efficiently with minimum handling by the user. The inside of a lab-on-a-chip device consists of circuits of tiny closed channels and wells, etched onto a glass or plastic microchip. Pressure or electrokinetic forces push samples through selected pathways in a controlled manner. The process separates the sample components for subsequent detection. Agilent introduced the first commercial lab-on-a-chip system, the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer, in 1999. Since then, Agilent lab-on-a-chip systems have become a standard in many industries, with more than 1 million bioanalyzer chips sold. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2003. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. Oracle is a U.S. registered trademark of Oracle Corporation, Redwood City, California Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Redwood City is the county seat of San Mateo County. As of the 2005 census, the city had a total population of 76,000. . NOTE TO EDITORS: Press releases, photography (Image 64) and other information can be accessed on the Agilent Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis newsroom at www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/lsca. Further technology, corporate citizenship Corporate Citizenship The extent to which businesses are socially responsible in meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim it to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the community in which it operates, while and executive news is available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news. |
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