The new heated lid technology, vapo.protect™, featured by the Eppendorf Mastercycler pro, achieves improved evaporation protection even at the corner and edge positions of the thermoblock. The tighter sealing of the newly developed fluid-filled cushion incorporated in the heated lid leads to improved evaporation protection. With its demonstrated minimization of technical variance on PCR**, the Mastercycler pro makes a significant contribution to higher comparability and reproducibility.
SynopsisA major criterion for efficient and robust PCR is the minimization of evaporation of the sample volume. There are various sealing methods such as tube caps, adhesive tape or foil, or heat-sealing film or foil that are used to combat evaporation. The successful sealing of the reaction vessel is highly dependent on the correct intensity and uniformity of the pressure applied by the lid of the thermocycler. In order to test the effectiveness of the new vapo. protect™ heated lid technology of the Mastercycler pro, the same PCR reaction was performed on the Mastercycler pro as well as five other thermocyclers. All reactions were identical: the same 96-well plate, sealing method, reaction, and protocol were used. The results clearly show a marked reduction of evaporation with the Mastercycler pro in comparison to the other five thermocyclers. There was an observed evaporation of 0-3% with the Mastercycler pro in comparison to 30% or greater evaporation seen with the other thermocyclers (Table 1 and Figure 1). The data presented here highlights the significance of improved evaporation protection provided by the Mastercycler pro with regard to obtaining optimal and reproducible PCR conditions.
Correspondence
Address correspondence to Nils Gerke, Eppendorf AG, Hamburg, Germany; Stefan Roth, Eppendorf Instrumente GmbH, Hamburg, Germany; Eppendorf North America, One Cantiague Road, Westbury, NY 11590, Phone: 800-645-3050, email: [email protected], www.eppendorf.com.
*Practice of the patented polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process requires a license. The Mastercycler is an Authorized Thermal Cycler and may be used with PCR licenses available from Applied Biosystems. Its use with Authorized Reagents also provides a limited PCR license in accordance with the label rights accompanying such reagents.
**The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is covered by U.S. patent numbers 4683105 and 4683202 held by Roche Molecular Systems and requires a license for use.
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