Recommended Support Equipment for the MerMade

We recommend the following support equipment for the MerMade. These are instruments that we have found helpful for day to day use of the MerMade to maximize the throughput. 

(Note: This is not meant to be an all inclusive list, nor is the user confined to these choices.) 

Sample Concentration  

JetStream and Sirocco System
Helix Scientific, Inc.
Warminster, PA
(215) 953-1990

This system consists of a 96-well manifold and gas heater.   The two devices are used together to evaporate the solvents from the oligos using air heated to a temperature of 70 ^oC after deprotection.  A plate of 96 oligos can be evaporated in a little over an hour. 

Sample QC Analysis

DNA Concentration:
SpectramaxPlus UV-Vis Plate Reader & SoftMax Pro Software
Molecular Devices
Sunnyvale, CA

This device is used to quantitate the DNA concentration in each well of a plate by reading the optical density at l = 260 nm   (OD260). 

n-1 Content:
Ready Gels PAGE gels  and Ready Gel Holder
BioRad Laboratories
Hercules, CA

This system is used to qualitatively assess the n-1 content of the oligos.  These are used routinely rather than CE or HPLC analysis, as up to 11 oligos can be run at the same time in one gel.  This provides much higher throughput than serial HPLC or CE analysis. 

Sample Dilution & Transfer

Biomek 2000 Liquid Handling Robot
Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Fullerton, CA

This device is used for multiple liquid handling steps such as dilution of the oligos for OD260 analysis, resuspension of the oligos after sample concentration, and sample transfers.