Nanion Technologies has introduced a new line of products for efficiently analyzing bilayer-reconstituted nanopores and ion channels.
The first product of this new line is the Orbit 16 that enables for efficient data generation with superior data quality by allowing the automated generation of 16 parallel bilayers and subsequent recordings from them. It facilitates bilayer recording, a proven method for detailed analysis of ion channels’ biophysical properties and is especially suitable for functional analysis of proteins found in intracellular membranes. In addition, this technique leverages a variety of powerful promising analytical methods utilizing biological nanopores as molecular sensors.
Although bilayer recording is very effective, it has its own limitations due to the unpredictable nature of lipid bilayers that must be generated manually one after another and also lack stability. However, the Orbit 16 accelerates the whole process by rapidly and simultaneously forming 16 highly stable micron-sized bilayers and allowing subsequent parallel recordings from them, resulting in a more efficient data generation.
Either Nanion's-recording chips for work on (proteo-) liposomes or Ionera's microelectrode cavity array (MECA) chip substrates will be used with the Orbit 16. According to Ionera’s Founder, Dr. Gerhard Baaken, the company believes that the Orbit 16 will be a suitable environment for its MECA-16 chip and will establish itself as a highly enabling technique for nanopore and bilayer research due to the easier formation of bilayers and signal-to-noise quality of recordings.
Nanion Technologies’ Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Niels Fertig commented that the Orbit 16 makes an entry into a new market. It facilitates bilayer recordings and delivers superior data quality. These features of the Orbit 16 make it attractive to the nanopore- and ion channel-communities.