New solutions enable users to tailor automation and screening to their application and enhance a broad array of workflows

SAN DIEGO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — January 25, 2016 — SLAS2016 – New technologies designed to improve efficiencies and productivity in the lab and enable the customization of automated workflows are on display this week at the 5th Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS), booth 707, at the San Diego Convention Center.

“Key drivers behind our latest automation and screening technologies include the need for improved laboratory efficiencies. To help researchers be more productive in the lab, we need to enable them to customize their workflows to meet their precise application needs,” said Hansjoerg Haas, senior business director, laboratory automation, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “Many of the new technologies showcased this week provide our customers with the option to choose the level of speed, accuracy and throughput that they require to accelerate their research.”

The products featured at SLAS range from automated sample handling to preparation and analysis:

• The new Thermo Scientific Cytomat 10 C450 incubator for automated incubation and storage provides high- capacity cell growth and assay incubation laboratories with fast plate accessibility, enabling access to cells in less than 10 seconds. Its flexible design ensures that it integrates easily into existing lab space, while advanced controls decrease contamination and assay variability risks.
• Thermo Scientific Clinical LIMS Software offers researchers and clinicians the ability to manage laboratory data, sample tracking, dynamic workflows and instrument integration as well as sensitive patient information required in molecular and diagnostic testing labs. It combines the sample-centric functionality of LIMS with the patient-centric functionality of a traditional LIS (laboratory information system). Clinical LIMS offers flexibility, configurability and ease-of-use while increasing automation and sample throughputs.
• The new Thermo Scientific Matrix 2D barcoded tubes in barcoded latch racks enable advanced sample tracking and identification. By adding unique laser-etched barcodes to three sides of the tube racks, users can easily track racks of tubes without the need for adhesive labels. As a result, it protects sample misidentification commonly caused by duplicate or incorrect labeling. Tubes and racks can be identified easily using the handheld Thermo Scientific VisionMate wireless barcode reader, which instantly decodes linear and 2D barcodes to provide secure sample tracking in a flexible and portable format.
• The Thermo Scientific E1-ClipTip electronic pipette is designed to maintain precise sample volumes during high-throughput pipetting. It features secure tip attachment, low attachment and ejection forces and an airtight seal on every channel. As a result, users benefit from less variation in dispensed liquid volumes while increasing ergonomics with electronic operation.
• The new Thermo Scientific Cell Insight CX7 high content analysis platform makes image-based cell screening accessible. With integrated widefield and confocal imaging, scientists can take advantage of the seven-color excitation, laser autofocus, and HCS Studio 3.0 software to design, validate and screen their assays.
• Invitrogen Predefined Silencer Select siRNAs libraries incorporate the latest improvements in siRNA design, off-target effect prediction algorithms and chemical modifications to yield siRNAs with efficacy, potency and specificity. This product yields cleaner, more consistent data from primary screen, reducing time and resources required to find true and validated targets.
• Invitrogen GeneArt Arrayed CRISPR Libraries for screening applications come in an arrayed format, which is compatible with existing screening platforms, and are available in 96- and 384-well formats. CRISPR libraries are emerging as the next-generation tool for high-throughput functional genomics screening.
• Invitrogen GeneArt Engineered Cell Models provides more than 14,000 validated cell lines engineered using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. This collection offers a superior resource for functional characterization of genes and their role in cellular processes, signaling pathways, disease development and progression and drug response.

During SLAS, Thermo Fisher will present workshops on current research. Sessions include:

• Capture diverse workflows in screening, synthetic biology and clinical genomics, presented by Dr Hulmin Zhao (centennial endowed chair professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr Alexander Wolf (scientist assay development and screening, Lead Discovery Centre GmbH) and Robyn Loverro, M.S., (senior automation scientist II, Genomic Health). Session takes place on Monday Jan. 25 at 12:30 p.m. in room 11B.
• GeneArt Arrayed Lentoviral CRISPR Library as Powerful High-Throughout Loss-of-Function Screening Tools , presented by Dr Jian-Ping Yang (staff scientist, Thermo Fisher). Session takes place on Monday Jan. 25 from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. in room 3.
• How Innovative Microplate Reader Features can Improve your Luminometric Assay Performance , presented by Marika Raitio (application scientist, Thermo Fisher). Session takes place on Tuesday Jan. 26 from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m. in room 4.