Marine Lab Ramps Up Microbiology Research Efforts
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The US Federal Drug Administration Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory has increased the efficiency of preparing its agar plates for microbiological research using an INTEGRA MEDIAJET vario automated petri dish filling system.
Located in Dauphin Island (AL), the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory (GCSL) site is used by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) to conduct research programs related to seafood safety, especially seafood harvested from the Gulf of Mexico.
The US FDA operates a mandatory safety program for all fish and fishery products under the provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, and related regulations.
The FDA program includes research, inspection, compliance, enforcement, outreach and the development of regulations and industry guidance.
George E Doup, Research Microbiology Technician at GCSL commented “Our lab is extremely satisfied with our decision to purchase and incorporate INTEGRA’s Petri Dish Filler for automatic pouring of 50mm and 100mm petri-dishes. We process approximately 40 liters of media per month and prior to buying MEDIAJET we filled all dishes by hand which required multiple technicians. Now we use a single MEDIAJET configured with a 360 dish carousel to process twice as many dishes with far less technician involvement. We also have the ability to automatically dispense media into test tubes using the instrument’s tube filler option. The MEDIAJET has greatly expanded our labs’ throughput capabilities and has enabled us to reliably ramp up our research efforts”.
The MEDIAJET offers microbiology labs the unique flexibility to fill Petri dishes of various sizes, Petri dishes with two compartments or test tubes of various diameters and length. Using a proven mechanical dish guidance system, monitored by a set of sensors throughout the filling process, the compact Petri Dish Filler from INTEGRA provides truly reliable, walk-away operation.
Operational downtime and media loss due to 'dish jams' resulting from variations in the diameter, shape and rim profile of the disposable plastic Petri dishes are completely eliminated. The excellent reliability and true automation provided by the MEDIAJET enables labs to fill up to 1100 petri dishes / hour.
