There is an increasing emphasis in clinical and translational research on the discovery and development of biomarkers that are indicative of a disease state. While biomarkers are not exclusively proteins, the emergence of new mass spectrometry platforms combined with the human genome databases has rejuvenated the search for biomarker proteins, especially in readily available body fluids such as blood. There is currently a tremendous need for an improved ability to “mine” the full depth of the proteome in a high throughput manner. To advance clinical proteomics, methodologies are needed that can accommodate higher throughput while facilitating the ability to observe large numbers of protein events…
Tag: <span>automation</span>
At the onset of modern-day biotechnology, products typically fell into two distinct categories, the traditional high volume, low value products (e.g. beer and industrial enzymes) that had come to characterize the biotechnology industry, and low volume, high cost products. Recombinant proteins, the result of technological advances in molecular biology, have come to typify these latter products. Recombinant protein therapeutics have been hugely successful, potentially outstripping production capacity and continue to drive much of the biotechnology. Meanwhile, many recombinant proteins, those characterized as research tools and reagents, are governed by a price-volume relationship typical of industrial enzymes. In a competitive environment, they are fast becoming commodities — price sensitive, packaged as kits, coupled to instrumentation, and relying on heavy marketing and brand recognition. Ominously, the advantage protein therapeutics have enjoyed with patent protection and regulatory constraints on production is being threatened as patents expire and competition from generics increases…
Large scale genomics spurred the development of massively parallel methods of automated DNA purification and sequencing. These methods started with the 1962 development of a 96-well microtiter plate for miniature-scale serology studies. This simple laboratory device has since been greatly modified and extended to include numerous specialty multiwell plates contructed and/or coated with different materials for various purposes. The original 96-well (8×12 matrix) has expanded to include 384-well and higher densities. More recently, functionality and versatility have been greatly augmented by the incorporation of a filter, or thin membrane, into the bottom of the well. These multiwell microfilter plates can thus be employed in a flow-through mode, in addition to the familiar “put in” and “take out” pipetting and rinsing steps associated with traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microtiter plate methods…