27th July 2010

We are delighted to announce that we have now taken delivery of "Goostave", otherwise known as an Applied Biosystems model 3730XL DNA Analyzer. This machine brings our total DNA sequencer complement to three and means that we have even more capacity to cover the ever-increasing demand for our work.

Goostave is our first "XL" instrument, which means that he has 96 capillaries and can process an entire 96 well plate of samples in a little over two hours. This is actually equivalent to the capacity of the other two machines ("Scrooge" and "Hortense") combined! Hence, the introduction of this one instrument actually doubles our overall capacity for processing sequencing samples.

However, it is not just DNA sequencing capacity that has been increased, since this instrument is also fully set up to process fragment analysis samples. Like sequencing, it also processes an entire plate of samples in parallel and so doubles our effective capacity for this aspect of our work too.

In order to ensure that we have sufficient capacity elsewhere in the facility to "feed" all the DNA analyzers, we have also invested in a new 96 well plate spinning centrifuge, electronic pipettes and PCR machines. In addition, our staff complement has increased and we now have six members of staff within the facility. This puts us in an even better position to undertake all your sequencing and associated needs, so if you are looking for a reliable, fast and friendly facility for your needs, there has been no better time to switch to us.