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Bio-Rad Releases New Software for Its Automated Experion Electrophoresis System

Bio-Rad
9 Sept 2008

Product news

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, announced today the release of new software for Bio-Rad’s automated Experion™ electrophoresis system, which enables fast and high resolution results for protein, RNA, and DNA separations. The new software optimizes these processes by providing easy access to the setup, running, and data analysis functions of the system.

An important feature of the software is its RNA quality indicator (RQI), which standardizes sample integrity for microarray and quantitative real-time PCR analyses with a one to 10 ranking. The method works well over a wide range of RNA concentrations, is reproducible, and is applicable to a wide range of mammalian tissues. With the new software, researchers can quantitatively assess the integrity of RNA samples before embarking on labor-intensive and costly projects.

Other key features of the software include:

  • A user friendly graphical interface
  • Manual peak integration
  • Easy-to-find run files that enable chronological storage, sorting, and retrieval of run data with the logical and flexible, tree-view browser
  • The ability to tag and label electropherograms by simply using a right click of the mouse
  • Customized reports
  • Results that can be exported as spreadsheets, text, and XML
  • Compatibility with Microsoft® Windows® Vista operating system

Benefits users can expect from the Experion software include automatic calculations of size, concentration, and percent of total sample for each peak or fragment. Using the new software, users also have the ability to calculate relevant statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and %CV for measuring reproducibility. Self-training tools are available with the software. A "help" function provides a "Getting Started" video as well as relevant technical bulletins.

More information about this feature is described in a downloadable technical note from (bulletin 5761) Bio-Rad’s website accessed via the company article page.

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ElectrophoresisElectrophoresis equipment is used to separate mixtures of protein, DNA or RNA, based on their electric charge, size and other physical characteristics, by passing them through a medium such as a polyacrylamide gel, an agarose gel or a capillary tube. Electrophoresis equipment includes horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis chambers, isoelectric focusing systems, 2D electrophoresis and capillary electrophoresis instruments. Precast gels with a gradient can be used or gels can be hand cast. Samples are run alongside ladders or markers to identify the approximate size of a molecule. Separated proteins and nucleic acids in the gel can be stained or probed with fluorescent markers and then imaged and detected using gel documentation instruments, transilluminators, densitometers and scanners. Find the best electrophoresis equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.PCR and Thermal CyclingPolymerase chain reaction (PCR) kits and thermal cyclers are used for the in vitro amplification of DNA permitting subsequent analysis and experimental procedures. Explore a range of high-quality polymerase, primers and nucleotides or simplify your workflow with a PCR mastermix. Find reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and cDNA synthesis kits for RNA products and libraries. Quantitatively measure the amplification of DNA with real-time PCR (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) kits and systems, and discover automated PCR setup solutions to increase throughput. Alternative DNA amplification methods also include recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) kits. Find the best PCR kits and thermal cyclers and purification equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.Data AnalysisData analysis hardware and software is available to make data processing straight-forward yet powerful. Data software can be used for math and stats, technical graphing and image analysis. In addition, software is available for specific data analysis of electrophoresis, densitometry, ELISA and DNA sequencing.Robotic InstrumentsRobotic instruments can be used for high-throughput automation of many lab processes. Such processes use instruments for assays like cell based assays and ELISA, for sample preparation like shakers, centrifuges and incubators, and for analysis such as sequencing and western blot analyzers. Useful features of robotic instruments include speed, reproducibility, barcode readers, software and automation.

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Bio-Rad Releases New Software for Its Automated Experion Electrophoresis System