Bio-Rad’s New PX1 PCR Plate Sealer Creates a Perfect Seal Every Time

Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., has announced the launch of its semi-automated PX1 PCR plate sealer and heat seals for fast and consistent microplate sealing. Designed for PCR, real-time PCR (qPCR), and Droplet Digital™ PCR (ddPCR™) applications, the PX1™ PCR plate sealer and associated heat sealing films and foils remove human variability from plate sealing and prevent sample evaporation from impacting results.

Poorly sealed microplates can permit sample evaporation, leading to large standard deviations in the number of quantification cycles (Cq) in qPCR experiments. The semi-automated design of the PX1 PCR plate sealer eliminates cumbersome manual sealing using heat and pressure to efficiently seal PCR plates, ensuring a perfect seal for uniform, reproducible PCR data.

The PX1 PCR plate sealer integrates with many different PCR workflows including Bio-Rad’s QX100™ Droplet Digital™ PCR system, providing researchers with a complete, user-friendly workflow for ddPCR. The PX1 sealer is also ideal for researchers using small sample volumes, with which evaporation is a crucial concern.

“Multiplex linearity tests in plates sealed with the PX1 sealer demonstrated amplification efficiencies in the range of 90 to 105 percent,” said Jennifer Reed, PX1 product manager in Bio-Rad’s Gene Expression division. “Efficiencies within this range are a hallmark of optimized, reliable PCR results.”

Additional benefits of the PX1 PCR plate sealer include:

• Fast startup time — ready to seal in under 3 minutes, much faster than other plate sealers that take up to 20 minutes, avoiding unnecessary delays in experiments
• Intuitive touch screen user interface — 12 programmable sealing protocols save valuable time
• Small footprint — compact design accommodates crowded bench spaces