Cooperation Permits Quality of Analytical Examinations in Biomedical Research

P.A.L.M. Microlaser Technologies and Qiagen N.V. have announced that they intend to enhance their cooperation in the field of providing technologies and products for research.

The combination of laser microdissection systems from P.A.L.M., a 100% subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG, with reagents and components from Qiagen enables precise specimen preparation and a quality of analytical examinations.

The PALM MicroBeam system is designed to permit the capture of specific single cells or cell components from a tissue section without mechanical contact.

The patented LMPC technology (Laser Microdissection and Pressure Catapulting) is designed to enable the touch-free transport of the target material using only light, guaranteeing contamination-free specimens.

Subsequent analytical examinations provide results that are possible with current techniques. The technologies used also allow isolation of living cells from cell cultures for analyses and further cultivation. 

Kit-based pre-analytical specimen preparation with standardized Qiagen technologies matched and optimized to P.A.L.M. systems guarantees optimum reliability of the subsequent analytical procedures and enables reliable qualitative and quantitative information on the basis material, e.g. in tumor research.

Dr. Karin Schütze, founder of P.A.L.M. is responsible for innovations, says that, "the combination of precise specimen preparation with LMPC and the mature kit technology from Qiagen enables the user to analyze specimens far more specifically and efficiently.”

“Specifically for the use of highly sensitive purification kits, extremely pure basis material means a significant saving of cell material and time – which is of major importance for functional genome research in particular."

"The molecular analysis of biological specimens is usually performed without any previous determination of certain cell types", says Dr. Ulrich Schriek, Vice President of Corporate Business Development at Qiagen.

"The P.A.L.M. LMPC technology permits the removal of single cells, e.g. from tumor tissue, with pinpoint precision to obtain information about protein expression or genetic details.”

“The combination with Qiagen products for standardized specimen collection, stabilization, purification and amplification of nucleic acid, and/or protein purification and subsequent analysis permits parallel morphological, immuno-histological and far-reaching molecular-biological analyses of minute specimen quantities."