
Isn't she wonderful.
Isn't she precious.
The newest addition to the lab*. A Roche LightCycler 480 Real Time PCR system (PDF, 6 pages). We're currently waiting for the electricians to install a new line (and IT to get her computer connected to our intranet) so we can fire this beauty up, but once we do ... bye bye BioRad iCycler iQ RT-PCR system. Ok, we're not getting rid of it, but we are going to use it much less frequently.
Eventually, my hope is to get a robotic liquid-handling system to do DNA preps and setup RT-PCR reactions to feed the 480. When I get those items procured, then I can buy the 384 well plate heat block** and upgrade the 480 to quadruple our output for a single run.
*The picture isn't of our machine. I lifted this picture off the web. But we do have one which looks just like it, and it's beautiful.
**The 96 and 384 well blocks are interchangeable.