Caliper Life Sciences Introduces LabChip GX and GXII Microfluidic Instruments

Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. has introduced two microfluidics-based separations products, the LabChip® GX and LabChip GXII benchtop systems for automated, 1-D electrophoretic separations of protein, DNA, and RNA samples.

The LabChip GX represents a system targeted at genomics applications, while the GXII combines both genomics and protein research applications.

The LabChip GX series of instruments will be marketed by Caliper and is designed to provide scientists novel benefits including extended walk away time, higher throughput and plate processing ability.

Both systems combine Caliper's assay technology with advanced data analysis and visualization software. With 96-well and 384-well plate compatibility and the ability to select single wells at any location in a plate, the LabChip GX and GXII systems provide researchers with flexibility and performance.

According to Caliper, leveraging its patented microfluidics technology, users are able to thoroughly analyze samples in seconds instead of minutes, eliminating throughput bottlenecks and improving efficiency.

The advanced data management software suite included with each system allows users to visualize results via an electropherogram or virtual gel view. Additionally it provides data in tabular form, which can then be analyzed or easily exported into a spreadsheet format.

The LabChip GX instrument has been designed expressly for the needs of genomics researchers for the analysis of RNA integrity for better RT-PCR and microarray gene expression data, DNA fragment analysis for sequencing applications and genotyping transgenic mice, and numerous other applications that require accurate size, concentration, or purity analysis of nucleic acid samples.

A unique feature of the LabChip GX is the ability to analyze any single sample, or a subset of samples in a microtiter plate using an intuitive GUI interface. This feature enables researchers to assess RNA integrity by randomly sampling a plate or conduct "hit picking" experiments on samples of particular interest.

The LabChip GXII system, which is a complete functional replacement of the LabChip 90, provides consistent analysis of both protein and nucleic acid samples. This automated separations platform also enables scientists to explore the effect of multiple variables in parallel.