SpiralPestle and MicroTube Homogenizer
The NEW SpiralPestle™ and 1.5 ml Microtube grinder is an significant improvement over traditional smooth-walled polypropylene pestle and tube combinations. It is used to homogenize culture cells and small samples (<100 mg wet weight) of soft tissue such as liver, brain, and muscle. It can also be used to disperse centrifugal pellets, precipitates, and other solids.
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The SpiralPestle™ has a unique screw-like pattern on its surface. The 'theads' of the turning pestle serve as a screw pump to draw 10 to 100 mg of soft plant or animal tissue suspended in a 200 to 500 µl of extraction solution to the bottom of the microvial where it is macerated and mechanically dispersed between the rounded bottom of the pestle and vial. Tissue grinding is further enhanced by including a pinch of glass grinding beads (a sample is included with each SpiralPestle order).
While pestle and microtube grinders are traditionally operated by hand rotation, to achieve optimum homogenization efficiency the SpiralPestle should be combined with a BioVortexer™. The BioVortexer is a low-cost, hand-held mixing motor drive. With its greatly increased rotational speed (~9000 rpm) and the addition of some glass grinding beads, lysis of soft tissue samples is completed in seconds.
