TTP software creates a buzz

TTP LabTech, based near Cambridge in the UK, has released version 2.7 software for its easy-to-use nanolitre liquid handler, "mosquito". The 2.7 version's new functionality meets the needs of screeners and protein crystallographers, improving serial dilution set-up for the former and automating new applications for the latter.

New multi-aspirate protocols enable mosquito to automate additive screens, while the "aspirate, aspirate, dispense" capability allows a combination of solutions to be dispensed simultaneously - with additional mixing if required - resulting in no protein evaporation. The ability to set up multiple conditions in one well also allows different constructs, volume ratios or protein concentrations to be assessed at the same time.

The software supports worklists by reading CSV files from Microsoft Excel to generate protocols and write results to CSV for display in Excel. "This is ideal for many screening applications as it gives a simple and very flexible method for editing complex pipetting protocols or making changes on the go, without detailed knowledge of the instrument," says the company. "It also makes it easy for the user to cross-reference worklists with the actual pipetting results."

Improved X and Y movement also allows the single tip mosquito X1 to pipette in any location on any vessel that will fit on mosquito's deck, making possible accurate drop placement on a range of non-standard plates or surfaces, such as mass spec chips, microscope slides or cover slides.