Clear as can be!
Labcon North America, the U.S. producer of disposable labware, will be exhibiting the latest version of its SuperClear centrifuge tubes for laboratories at LABVOLUTION 2017.

Labcon North America Corp. from California is regarded as a world leader in disposable laboratory plastics – described as "Earth Friendly" by the company itself. For nearly six decades, since 1959, it has been supplying centrifuge tubes, culture tubes, aerosol pipette tips, microcentrifuge tubes and PCR disposables to laboratories the world over. The development team at Labcon North America Corp. is increasingly focusing on sustainable solutions for laboratory disposables.

To coincide with LABVOLUTION 2017, the company is now launching the latest version of its tried-and-tested SuperClear centrifuge tubes for laboratories. The updated SuperClear 50 ml and 15 ml tubes benefit from a unique elastomer sealing cap that virtually rules out any leakage. Further improvements include a new, patented writing surface that is intended to reduce smearing and rotor damage when labeling by hand. Another new feature is secondary graduation in a second color. The updated SuperClear line will in future be available in numerous package options, which can be ordered in the exclusive IntegraPack package.
Labcon North America Corp. (Petaluma, CA 94954, USA), Hall 20, Stand D59, topic: disposable plastic labware for biotechnology and pharmaceuticals
Contact: Tom Moulton
Tel.: +1 707 766 2111

Always the right reagent for your experiments
New England Biolabs is exhibiting its new LUNA Universal qPCR & RT-qPCR products at LABVOLUTION 2017, which promise to provide the very latest in cutting-edge enzyme technology and best-in-class performance.

Private research company New England Biolabs (NEB) has been a leading manufacturer of innovative reagents and high-quality enzymes for molecular biology for more than 40 years. NEB GmbH, which offers the world’s largest selection of DNA and RNA modifying enzymes, is continuously expanding its product portfolio to include related disciplines such as cellular imaging, epigenetics and next-gen. sequencing. However, first and foremost, NEB has a wide selection of DNA polymerases for various application fields related to this method. For example, NEB was the first to make Taq DNA polymerase commercially available to the research community.

The scientists from NEB are at LABVOLUTION 2017 to exhibit the latest achievements in this field, with OneTaq DNA polymerase - as a highly robust polymerase for standard applications - and with Q5 high-fidelity DNA polymerase, which exhibits outstanding accuracy (more than 100 times more accurate than Taq DNA polymerase). When developing both polymerases, NEB took special care to ensure they are user-friendly, so that both can be easily modified for various targets e.g. with extreme GC/AT proportions.

NEB is also exhibiting the new Luna Universal qPCR products for reliable performance on various samples and target sequences. In this instance, NEB is using the very latest enzyme technology so that finding the right reagent for your experiment is child's play. Since Luna Universal qPCR & RT-qPCR products are available for dye- and probe-based detection methods, they should be compatible with all standard platforms.
New England Biolabs GmbH (65929 Frankfurt, Germany), Hall 19, Stand B77
Contact: Dr. Thomas Möllenkamp
Tel.: +49 69 305 23140
E-Mail: info.de@neb.com

Swiss high-speed solution
Swiss startup rqmicro AG is unveiling CellStream, an instrument for ultra-fast cell separation to process legionella samples, at LABVOLUTION 2017 in Hannover.

Fledgling company rqmicro AG, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, produces its own reagents and innovative instruments for microbiological testing of water and food samples as a means of protecting consumers all over the world from contamination. In such cases, it is obviously crucial to detect pathogens as rapidly and reliably as possible. This inspired the interdisciplinary team at rqmicro to develop ultra-fast, highly specific microbiological test procedures using immunomagnetic separation, microfluidic cartridges and flow cytometers. rqmicro's special technology is designed to enable laboratories to separate legionella from water samples within 30 minutes - a dramatic improvement on conventional microbiological methods, which can take up to 14 days to produce a semi-quantitative result.

The company is unveiling CellStream, its ultra-fast cell separation instrument for processing legionella samples, at LABVOLUTION 2017. It has developed CellStream to provide customers with a microbiological test that simply and efficiently separates bacteria from complex samples. Combined with flow cytometry, microscopy or PCR, CellStream is designed to quantify specific pathogens in next to no time and thus give its users a clear competitive edge. In conjunction with rqmicro's reagents and microfluidic cartridges, CellStream provides an all-in-one solution that enables users to purify samples and isolate specific cells, such as legionella, from water at ultra-high speeds.
rqmicro AG (8952 Schlieren, Switzerland), Hall 20, Stand B07
Contact: Adrian Müller
Tel.: +41 79 557 66 77
E-Mail: adrian.mueller@rqmicro.com

Follow orders - and stand to attention!
Mettler-Toledo is showcasing SmartStand, the world’s first intelligent pipette stand, at LABVOLUTION 2017. It is designed to help laboratories follow standard working procedures and ensure GLP/GMP compliance.

Mettler-Toledo GmbH from Giessen in Germany heralds its new SmartStand as the unique and easy-to-use solution for following standard working procedures and ensuring GLP/GMP compliance. The international manufacturer and distributor of precision instruments is demonstrating at LABVOLUTION how SmartStand enables researchers to instantly check the current status of their XLS or XLS+ Rainin pipettes.

The trick lies in the RFID chip that is integrated into every Rainin XLS and XLS+ pipette. By reading these chips, SmartStand can instantly and automatically display the compliance status for up to four pipettes - either manual (Pipet-Lite XLS/XLS+) or electronic (E4 XLS/XLS+). Pick up a pipette and SmartStand’’s LCD display switches to a detail view of its service and calibration status. Not only that, but with the aid of the accompanying custom-developed EasyDirect software, SmartStand provides an end-to-end pipette management solution. EasyDirect reads and organizes the data from each pipette processed in the SmartStand to provide users with a comprehensive pipette inventory. For example, EasyDirect can generate, sort and search for reports, and the pipette data can also be exported for use in other applications. On top of all that, the new SmartStand also has a quick charging station that can take up to four electronic pipettes at a time (E4 XLS and XLS+).
Mettler-Toledo GmbH (35396 Giessen, Germany), Hall 20, Stand C42, Topic: SmartVolution in the laboratory
Contact: Dr. Maria Zweig
Tel.: +49 641 507-294
E-Mail: maria.zweig@mt.com

Pocket laboratory and telephone "to go"
Scientists from the Hannover Center for Optical Technologies (HOT) and the Institute for Technical Chemistry (TCI) at the Leibniz University Hannover are showcasing a medical laboratory "to go" at LABVOLUTION 2017 for testing bodily fluids.

Tests on a range of bodily fluids can now be conducted using a smartphone that has been slightly modified with an optical measuring system that makes it easy to monitor blood levels and conduct pregnancy tests, for example, "on the road". Once the smartphone has been kitted out with this analysis tool, it could also be used for other non-medical applications such as environmental analysis. When combined with the phone's own GPS system, numerous other useful features can also be linked, such as locating the nearest pharmacy or outpatients' clinic away from home.

The research team led by Dr. Kort Bremer, Dr. Maik Rahlves, Dr. Johanna Walter, Rina Rifai and Prof. Bernhard Roth has succeeded with just a few technical adjustments in boosting the run-of-the-mill smartphone's capabilities to such a degree that it can be used to conduct biomolecular tests. The potential this unleashes is so impressive that an HOT feasibility study convinced an expert panel from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in Berlin to award funding from the EXIST research transfer program for this endeavor. "Smartphones are already equipped with almost all the features required for turning them into mobile laboratories - camera, LED flash and sufficient computing power," explains Dr. Bremer. "When combined with a dedicated external optical sensor system, there is nothing to stop smartphones being upgraded to identify biological markers." To achieve this, a specially modified fiber-optic cable links the LED flash with a diffraction grating in front of the camera lens. Capturing the sensor’s signal requires nothing more than a simple photography app.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover - HOT Hannover Center for Optical Technologies (30167 Hannover, Germany), Hall 19, Stand C80,co-exhibitor with Lower Saxony Ministry for Science
Contact: Dr. Kort Bremer
Tel.: +49 511 762 17905
E-Mail: kort.bremer@hot.uni-hannover.de

Unlimited sublimation - what would Freud say?
BÜCHI Labortechnik is at LABVOLUTION 2017 with the innovative Lyovapor modular platform for freeze-drying. The new Lyovapor L-300 model is equipped with Infinite-Technology, making continuous sublimation for laboratory applications possible for the very first time.

An established market leader in laboratory evaporation, BÜCHI Labortechnik GmbH is launching Lyovapor L-300 and Lyovapor L-200 as part of an innovative new platform for freeze-drying. While the L-200 is designed for quantities up to 6 kg (-55 degrees Celsius), the real showstopper is its big brother - the L-300 is the first freeze dryer for unlimited capacity (-105 degrees Celsius). Thanks to its Infinite-Technology, the Lyovapor L-300 is also the first laboratory freeze dryer to support continuous sublimation. With two condensers and automated hygienic steam cleaning, the L-300 can be used for unlimited volumes and operates continuously with minimal maintenance. Both the L-300 and L-200 can be individually configured and adjusted to changing requirements.

Thanks to the Infinite-Control technology that both the L-300 and L-200 use, they also provide continuously updated information on condenser and product temperatures, as well as chamber pressure. "With Infinite-Control, customers have full control of all relevant process parameters anytime anywhere," says Philipp John, Business Area Manager Formulation at BÜCHI. Users can operate the Lyovapor from the dryer itself or from the workstation, while all process parameters can also be monitored from mobile devices. The Infinite-Control software supports data recording, customized reporting and quick design of methods and real-time diagrams. What’s more, the Pro version of the control unit also facilitates sample protection and end-point detection.
Büchi Labortechnik GmbH (45127 Essen, Germany), Hall 20, Stand A51
Contact: Heidi Kluge
Tel.: +49 201 747 49-21
E-Mail: deutschland@buchi.com

For photos and video clips, visit: Product Innovations