Tecan Helps Repsol to Drive the Fuels of the Future

The Madrid Technology Center of global energy company Repsol relies on two Freedom EVO® platforms for colony picking and enzymatic assays for research into fossil fuel alternatives, using Tecan’s 350 µl nested LiHa disposable tips to achieve extended walkaway times.

Jose Miguel Seoane, a researcher in the biotechnology department, explained: “The investigation of new biological applications involves screening large numbers of mutants of different micro-organisms, enabling the best performing candidates to be selected for further studies. As we test thousands of different mutations, automated high throughput screening is the key to our success.”

“We generate up to 10,000 colonies per week, and long periods of walkaway automation are absolutely essential, making nested tips indispensable; it makes no sense to invest in automation if you need to manually place tips on the workdeck every 20 minutes or so. The release of 350 µl nested LiHa disposable tips, with a novel design incorporating a frame between each tray, was an important development. The trays fit perfectly and the stack remains in perfect alignment, eliminating tip pick-up failures. This makes the workflow more robust and efficient, as well as providing the long walkaway times that we need. Tecan’s field engineers know the systems well and are very responsive, which we really appreciate as a project can be set back weeks, or even months, if the support is not there. It is a pleasure to work with the company.”