Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc launch New Imaging System

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. announces the launch of the ChemiDoc™ MP imaging system, a stain-free enabled instrument, capable of chemiluminescent, multiplex fluorescent, and routine gel imaging. Using the stain-free detection option of the ChemiDoc MP system, researchers can quantify total protein for normalization purposes after transfer to the membrane. This method is designed to produce faster results and overcomes the potential errors associated with normalization using housekeeping proteins.

“I’ve found that using stain-free imaging with the ChemiDoc MP is as good or better than using housekeeping proteins for normalization,” said Aldrin Gomes, assistant professor at the University of California, Davis. “This also saves time and hassle since I don’t need to re-probe the blot for housekeeping proteins.”

Formerly, researchers quantifying western blot experiments normalize data with housekeeping proteins, which ordinarily requires stripping and probing the membrane a second time, or probing with multiple antibodies simultaneously. Stripping and reprobing techniques add extra steps to the protocol, consuming reagents, time, and labor. Alternatively, probing with multiple antibodies simultaneously requires reagent optimization over several experiments.

Assurance at Every Stage of the Western Workflow
The ChemiDoc MP system also integrates with Bio-Rad’s V3 Western Workflow™, a portfolio of Bio-Rad products that shorten the protein separation and blot transfer steps from several hours to 30 minutes. In addition, the V3 Western Workflow offers researchers confidence in their western blot results, providing them a way to visualize their proteins at every stage of the protocol. Using the ChemiDoc MP system, researchers can visualize protein separation on Criterion™ TGX Stain-Free™ precast gels, verify successful transfer with the Trans-Blot®-TurboTM transfer system by imaging the membrane using stain-free detection, and validate the accuracy of western blot results at every step.