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Increasing the reproducibility of detection assays

Researchers in the Hadad Research Group, based in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio State University, are studying organophosphate pesticides in vitro, and are using INTEGRA’s ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot to streamline workflows.

Stacey Allen, a graduate student in the laboratory, explained: “We are working on developing treatments to reverse acetylcholinesterase inhibition caused by pesticides or nerve agents, as well as exploring new ways of protecting people against exposure to these chemicals.”

 

“We mainly use the ASSIST PLUS to automate the process of preparing our plates for incubation, pipetting all of our negative controls and a variety of compounds into the plates and then performing a mixing step. We also use the robot for our detection assays, where we use it to pipette samples out of the incubated plate and into another, before they are put in a plate reader. 

“We were originally doing everything manually, but it was exhausting, and the risk of developing repetitive strain injuries was high. Not only that, but there was quite a lot of human error and variation in results, especially between different operators. 

“The ASSIST PLUS has been great for our work – our results are much more reproducible, errors are less frequent and it saves us a lot of time. It has been so easy to train people to use the robot, and the software is very user friendly and intuitive. You can even perform a final check of your program using the simulation feature, which is great to ensure that you’ve got everything right before putting it into practice,” concluded Stacey.

To learn more, visit the INTEGRA Biosciences website.  

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Pathology Horizons 2024

MacDonald Bath Spa Hotel, Bath
18-20 April, 2024

Diagnostics North East Conference 2024

The Catalyst, Newcastle upon Tyne
19 April, 2024

ECCMID 2024 - European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Fira Gran Via, 08038 Barcelona, Spain
27-30 April 2024

British Society for Microbial Technology Annual Microbiology Conference

UK Health Security Agency, Colindale, London
2 May 2024

EQA Reports: Interpreting Key Information & Troubleshooting Tips

ONLINE - Zoom
Thursday 16th May 2024

Participants’ Meeting: UK NEQAS Immunology, Immunochemistry & Allergy

Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield
24th May 2024

Access the latest issue of Pathology In Practice on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

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