On Fri, 2011-11-18 at 06:34 -0800, xaravich ivan wrote:
> Ok, now I do not have an easy access to crystallization robot, so I
> was hoping if someone here have ever used the 96 well plates for
> manually setting drops with much lower solution/sample volumes
> (0.1-0.2micro litres).
>
The best we could do was to use the multichannel pipettor that goes down
to as little as 0.5ul to add reservoir solution to the drop and a
repeater (that's what you probably mean by "clicker syringe"). The
smallest volume you can dispense with a repeater is 1ul, but it has the
advantage of speed (no need to go back into the protein tube) and
positive displacement mechanism (no worries about viscosity/surface
tension).
So one cannot get much advantage regarding protein amount, it still
takes ~100ul to set up a 96-well tray (which robotic systems can bring
down by an order of magnitude). But you do save a lot of money on the
screens and the methodology is much faster than traditional dispensing
(with screening solutions in deep well blocks the whole dance takes 3-4
minutes).
Cheers,
Ed.
--
"Hurry up before we all come back to our senses!"
Julian, King of Lemurs
