Seamless Pipetting for Molecular Biology

Researchers at the Immune Sensing and Signaling Dynamics group/ImmunoHUB, located at i3S in Porto, Portugal, are benefiting from the cutting-edge capabilities of Integra Biosciences' PIPETBOY acu 2 pipette controller. This advanced tool is playing a pivotal role in their investigations into the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)'s involvement in infection and cancer. Sérgio Marinho, a research technician, explained: “The AHR is used by cells to monitor their microenvironment, providing molecular cues to identify changes in microbial communities or tumour status, as well as allowing the host to react to potential imbalances in homeostasis. As therapeutic drugs are also recognised by this mechanism, AHR modulation could impact the success of therapies too. We’re investigating this modulation at a fundamental level, to try and understand the effects of infection, particularly where multidrug-resistant bacteria are an issue, and to study why some cancer patients relapse following seemingly successful chemotherapy treatments.”

Sérgio continued: “Cell and molecular biology techniques involve a lot of liquid handling. We also perform viral transductions, which require numerous cell handling steps. The PIPETBOY acu 2 pipette controller is ideal for our serological pipetting needs; it is ergonomic, very lightweight, reliable and robust, and compatible with the various serological pipettes that we use in the lab. It also has a long battery life, which is essential when we spend many hours pipetting each day. We use them every day and are very happy with their performance. We also have a VACUSAFE aspiration system from Integra, which is ideal for cell culture assays in microplates. The eight channel tip adapter allows us to aspirate eight wells simultaneously, making the process much less laborious and saving a lot of time. It’s a real asset to our laboratory.”

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