INTEGRA’S ASSIST PLUS aids the battle against antibiotic resistance

INTEGRA Biosciences’ ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot and VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipettes are proving invaluable to scientists at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, helping the development of novel antibiotics against resistant strains of Gram-negative bacteria.

Senior research scientist Adrianna Olejniczak explained: “Our laboratory performs minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing of potential antibiotics as part of the European GNA NOW collaboration. We're currently working on over 50 strains but can do as many as 500 – that’s thousands and thousands of MICs a month, which is laborious and time consuming to do manually.”

“We use the ASSIST PLUS and VOYAGER pipette to run MIC testing in 96 well plates, and they are a lifesaver. The work deck can accommodate many types of reservoir, as well as heating blocks when we are working with temperature-sensitive media, and the GripTip pipette tips are a game-changer, as they don't inexplicably fall off your pipette. Pipetting protocols can be easily customized using the VIALAB software, and can even be simulated before use to check that there are no programming errors. Automation has enabled us to shorten our run times significantly, improving our throughput and efficiency. Reproducibility is better too, as user-to-user variation and pipetting errors are eliminated, and the workflow is not as stressful to perform – we just start the run and walk away. The ASSIST PLUS is a big advantage with such a dynamic project, where we are working to tight deadlines, and we’re now looking to get another one so that we can optimize our workflow even more. Manual pipetting just doesn’t compare to automation.”

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