Beckman Coulter is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first commercially available centrifuge with a "Great Applications" contest on the web at www.beckmancoulter.com/60years.
Scientists are encouraged to submit stories that demonstrate how Beckman Coulter centrifugation products have advanced their work. Winners of the contest will receive US$200 cash or a $300 charitable donation made in their name.
Arno Schoenberger, marketing director for life science for Beckman Coulter Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "The centrifuge has proven to be a key instrument in the development of the biotechnology industry, playing a key role in both clinical diagnostics and molecular discovery in laboratories around the world. The ultracentrifuge is associated with many of the most significant advances in modern medicine - from the isolation of the polio virus to the elucidation of heredity-influencing DNA."
The first commercially available electric ultracentrifuge, dubbed the Model E, was introduced to the scientific community in 1947 by its principal designer, Edward G. Pickels.
For several years after the introduction of the Model E, Pickels continued to play an integral role in the evolution of the instrument, including assisting in the development of a synthetic boundary cell that enabled one solution to be layered over another slightly more dense solution, making it possible to perform differential sedimentation experiments.