Mar 4 2011
Spectrophotometers allow for quantification of nucleic acid and protein samples based on absorbance at 260nm and 280nm, respectively.
Traditionally this method is performed in cuvette format which requires large sample volumes generally from 100ul – 3500ul. Technology advances have reduced sample volume needed which is necessary in life science applications where cost and sample availability are limited.
Implen's NanoPhotometer Pearl
Implen GmbH has developed the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl to analyze ultra low sample volumes of 0.3ul while maintaining high accuracy, reproducibility and speed. The NanoPhotometer™ Pearl has been compared with respect to its performance characteristics to those of the alternative technology, the Thermo Scientific NanoDrop 2000c. The tests were designed to evaluate very low sample volume (0.3ul – 2ul) performance on DNA and proteins together with sample stability and overall speed of analysis.
Submicroliter performance of the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl and NanoDrop 2000c was evaluated with regard to accuracy, reproducibility, sample stability, and speed of operation. In DNA analysis, the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl and NanoDrop 2000c both performed well with sample volumes of 1.0ul and above. At 0.5ul the NanoDrop 2000c showed a significant higher standard deviation of the results compared to the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl. Only the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl was reproducible in volumes down to 0.3ul.
With protein analysis, the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl was accurate to reference protein concentration and reproducible with very low standard deviation. The NanoDrop 2000c performed on protein analysis with high variability. Increasing sample volume and adding glycerol did not significantly improve the high variability with the NanoDrop 2000c.
Stability over time is superior with the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl both in regards to signal stability observed with the blank and less deviation of repeated measurements of the same applied sample over time. Operation time was also shown to be less with the NanoPhotometer™ Pearl in every category.
Source: http://www.implen.com/