Dolomite and Emerald BioSystems collaborate to roduce award winning novel protein crystallography instrument

This novel touchscreen instrument enables low-volume crystallization (5-10 nL protein/experiment), for the production of diffraction-ready crystals with no wasted protein. The MPCS Plug Maker is ideal for applications such as ligand screening, hybrid screening and microfluidic seeding. The Plug Maker is a self-contained unit operated from a built-in touchscreen control unit, taking up less than two feet of bench width.

Dolomite carried out all elements of the Plug Maker system design and development (including concept generation, industrial design, hardware and software engineering, and manufacture), creating an easy-to-use system based on Emerald’s core science. The Plug Maker automates well-validated Emerald technology, rapidly creating a series of 10nl plugs of protein and precipitant samples in a plastic CrystalCard, which are then allowed to crystallize. This revolutionary performance was made possible using Dolomite’s ultra-smooth pump technology, coupled with its world-beating expertise in microfluidics and engineering. Dolomite added further value by completing the entire instrument design (including a vision system, fully automated liquid handling system and touchscreen control software). The development took just 18 months from first concept to launch at LabAutomation.