Miscellaneous
Molecular Biology Equipment
Discovery Biology is also equipped for performing various molecular biology techniques including PCR, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE and western blotting.
Heraeus CYTOMAT Incubator
The Heraeus Cytomat is a robot accessible CO2 incubator. In addition to the standard incubator features such as CO2, temperature control and humidification, the Cytomat has robotic internal plate handling. It therefore has the capacity to incubate 190 plates simultaneously in a carousel format, which is integrated into the SAMI/Sagian automated system with the Biomek FX liquid handling platform and plate readers.
Heracell 240 Incubator
This incubator has the added advantage of having the capability of running with two fixed gas levels (CO2 and O2). This allows for large volume, easy access incubation of cells, parasites or bacteria which require unique gaseous conditions. This feature makes this incubator ideal for the culture of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes. The incubator is supplied with CO2 and Nitrogen individually, maintaining a consistent gaseous mix of 90% Nitrogen, 5% CO2 and 5% O2.
Sy-Lab IceCube 14S Freezer
The IceCube 14S is a computer-controlled freezing chamber that can be programmed to freeze down samples in cryogenic vials, straws, or blood bags using real-time rate-controlled freezing programs. Freezing protocols can be setup and optimized for various biological samples and cryomedia to ensure maximal cell viability. The liquid nitrogen freezer contains temperature-responsive probes to enable constant monitoring of chamber and sample temperatures throughout a freezing run.
MVE Eterne 810 dewar with TEC2000 system monitor (MegaBob)
A 370-litre cryogenic freezer capable of storing >15000 vials in vapour phase liquid nitrogen. The freezing unit is connected to an external LN2 source and contains an in-built system monitor with an automatic fill function and liquid level sensor enabling it to maintain a constant supply of liquid nitrogen and a sample temperature of -190C.
