IMBM is now the proud host of a Q-Pix 2 colony picking robot, named Pixie. A conversation between Assoc. Prof. Marla Tuffin and Prof Esta van Heerden at UFS (Grant holder for the Q-Pix 2), asking if IMBM could use their robot for library screening, ended with an agreement to ship the underused robot to IMBM where it could be put to work immediately on a variety of metagenomic based projects and in the process establishing a new collaboration between the two labs. IMBM has in the past made use of the same class of robot hosted by CSIR in Pretoria for screening of large metagenomic libraries.
This together with a newly purchased MicroFill Microplate Dispenser enhances the Institutes ability to screen metagenomic libraries in a high throughput manner and complements the programs which are underway to develop in vitro screening platforms.
