Tecan has launched the Frida Reader for the Fluent Automation Workstation, offering researchers the ability to quantify nucleic acids without sample loss.
This solution performs ultraviolet (UV) absorbance-based quantification and purity assessment in a hanging drop, avoiding the consumption of rare and precious samples following nucleic acid purification (NAP). This latest offering expands Tecan’s portfolio of workflow automation solutions and reagents to cover all genomics needs.
Efficient NAP is crucial prior to applications such as NGS or PCR/qPCR, but laboratories working with low volume, high value samples cannot always afford to lose a portion of their samples for quantification and purity assessment. This can lead to downstream failures if insufficient genetic material is available for processing, or if samples are contaminated with excess protein or salts, wasting time and causing unnecessary consumption of expensive reagents.
The Frida Reader eliminates this issue by allowing assessment of sample quality and quantity without any sample loss, aspirating the sample back into the pipette tip after performing hanging-drop absorbance measurements. It uses four separate wavelengths – 230, 260, 280 and 320 nm – to allow real-time nucleic acid quantification in the 5- to 1000-ng/μL range, as well as QC measurements to identify protein contamination.
Designed to work in combination with the Fluent platform’s Air Flexible Channel Arm, this system only occupies a single SLAS-format position on the Dynamic Deck, and is compatible with both benchtop and cabinet-based instrument configurations, offering flexible integration for laboratories looking to eliminate sample loss for quantification and QC from their workflow.