Posts tagged ‘Bio-Rad Laboratories’
Investigating Cancer Stem Cells
December 17, 2014 at 10:44 am Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
Learn Total Protein Normalization from the Experts
December 8, 2014 at 1:49 pm Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
Walk-Away Automation for Accurate and Reliable Cell Sorts

The S3e Cell Sorter’s simple setup and walk-away automation allow researchers to sort cells in their own labs.
Bio-Rad Laboratories announced the launch of its S3e Cell Sorter that offers walk-away automation for accurate and reliable cell sorts of one or two populations.
The S3e Cell Sorter builds on the original S3™ Cell Sorter technology with the addition of the new AutoGimbal System. This novel automated system perfectly aligns the nozzle tip and stream to the optics, eliminating the need for manual repositioning. The AutoGimbal System makes these fine adjustments using five motorized controllers. Researchers can now be more confident that their system is set up correctly every time.
Traditionally, researchers have sorted cells at a core lab due to high instrument and operating costs, as well as the need for a trained core staff specialist to help run the sort. The arrival of the affordable and first walk-away S3e Cell Sorter enables labs to have their own personal cell sorter. The simple setup and hands-free calibration eliminate the pain points of typical high-end instruments, making cell sorting easier and accessible to researchers who are increasingly using these instruments for low-complexity sorts.
Additional benefits of the S3e Cell Sorter include:
- Simplified setup — fully automated drop delay calculation and droplet break-off monitoring enable precise sorting with minimal training
- Small benchtop footprint — onboard fluidics and temperature control allow a compact size (2.3 x 2.1 x 2.1 ft)
- Two-way cell sorting — sort two different defined populations at the same time with one or two lasers and up to four fluorescent detectors
- High speed and high purity — sort cells quickly while maintaining high sensitivity and purity
For more information, please visit www.bio-rad/S3ePR for the S3e and other available Bio-Rad cell sorters.
December 4, 2014 at 10:51 am Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
Cell Sorter Reviews
Earlier this week, The Scientist reviewed and compared five different cell sorters. The comparison included price, size, number of lasers, colour detection and sample format. Bio-Rad Laboratories S3 Cell Sorter was the first to be reviewed and was given accolades for its ease of use, user friendly software and the novel internal fluidics system. The reviewer interviewed professor Stacy Blaine from SUNY Downstate Medical who said that the system, which requires very little training, enabled her to leave others to use the sorter unsupervised. This gave her the freedom to do other work in the time that it would normally take to train new users on the system.
To learn more about cell sorting options visit Sorting Made Simpler: A guide to affordable, compact fluorescence-activated cell sorters
Watch the video below to see how some of the design innovations in the S3 Cell Sorter came about, including a unique automated method for calculating drop delay.
December 3, 2014 at 1:21 pm Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
A Fast Approach to Staining Nuclei
November 27, 2014 at 4:33 pm Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
Everything You Need to Know About Droplet Digital PCR
Droplet Digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR™) was developed to provide high-precision, absolute quantification of nucleic acid target sequences with wide-ranging applications for both research and clinical diagnostic applications. ddPCR measures absolute quantities by counting nucleic acid molecules encapsulated in discrete, volumetrically defined water-in-oil droplet partitions. Droplet Digital PCR using Bio-Rad’s QX100™ or QX200™ Droplet Digital PCR system overcomes the previous lack of scalable and practical technologies for digital PCR implementation.
ddPCR has the following benefits for nucleic acid quantification:
- Unparalleled precision — the massive sample partitioning afforded by ddPCR enables small fold differences in target DNA sequence between samples to be reliably measured
- Increased signal-to-noise — enrich for rare targets by reducing competition that comes from high-copy templates
- Removal of PCR efficiency bias — error rates are reduced by removing the amplification efficiency reliance of PCR, enabling accurate quantification of targets
- Simplified quantification — a standard curve is not required for absolute quantification
Download the Droplet Digital™ PCR Applications Guide for a comprehensive explanation of this powerful technique.
The guide includes chapters on:
- Designing Droplet Digital™ PCR Experiments
- Absolute Quantification and the Statistics of Droplet Digital™ PCR
- Copy Number Variation Analysis
- Rare Mutation and Sequence Detection
- Gene Expression
- Next-Generation Sequencing Library Analysis
- Droplet Digital™ PCR Tips, Assay Considerations, and Troubleshooting
November 25, 2014 at 3:23 pm Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment
NGC ChromLab Software – Learn Data Evaluation Tools from the Experts

Presented by:
Benjamin Nickle, PhD
Technical Support Specialist
As you get ready to use your new NGC™ system, we will provide you with an opportunity to learn about the data evaluation tools built into the ChromLab software.
This training will cover chromatogram analysis of single run files, comparison of multiple run files, saving files, generating reports, and the column performance evaluation tool.
Have a Specialist contact me »
November 18, 2014 at 11:09 am Canadian Biotechnologist Leave a comment