Clear choice for crystal growth

This 'essential tool' for protein structure and drug discovery investigations claims peerless optical clarity and automated storage capabilities within a small footprint

Thermo Electron has added to its automated Rhombix crystallisation range with the new compact, entry-level, TableStore.

Growing and selecting the right crystal will now be much easier for any size of research group, says the company, since the Rhombix TableStore offers full integration of storage and imaging both within the laboratory and across the globe.

The TableStore is an essential tool for protein structure and drug discovery investigations, offering 'peerless' optical clarity and automated storage capabilities within a small footprint.

The Rhombix TableStore can hold up to 176 standard 96-well SBS-format plates in an integrated ambient storage unit.

The optics used in TableStore produce high clarity, single- or multi-mode brightfield, darkfield or polarised images and its advanced automation capabilities process these at a maximum rate of 500 plates/day using single-mode imaging.

TableStore takes the strain out of crystallography, by instigating and following over 16,800 crystallisations (using 96-well plates) purely by the analysis and scoring of the images produced - no need to touch the plates until the crystals are ready.

Also, by having an integrated and automated system, plates have very small distances to travel and are transported using smooth robotic arms, so there is less chance of disturbing the growing crystals.

TableStore supports sitting drop, hanging drop, and microbatch crystallisation methods and due to all experimental descriptions and automation settings are stored in a centralised database, global collaborations and the use of remote resources can be readily enabled.

As with its larger stable-mates, the 750i and 1250i, the superior optical clarity of the Rhombix TableStore, coupled to its multi-mode capabilities mean that it is now much easier to detect the state of crystal growth and assess the suitability for X-ray diffraction.

Moreover, all relevant data are captured during the crystallisation and imaging processes, so any aspects of the procedure can be tracked, recalled and used for analysis.

The functionality of TableStore can be enhanced with the addition of the Rhombix Software Suite v1.6.

This new software package helps link experimental design, process control and analysis into a coherent flow to make experiments, protocols and results much more manageable.

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