Integrated Colony Picking for Molecular Biology

Tecan and SciRobotics announced the launch of the integrated Pickolo colony-picker for the Freedom EVO® liquid handling platforms, providing customers with a complete solution for automation of molecular biology workflows, from cloning to PCR sequencing or cell-based screening.

SciRobotics developed Pickolo specifically for Freedom EVO. This application enables fully automated colony picking from both petri dish and multi-well plate formats, combining high-resolution digital imaging technology with flexible, easy-to-use analysis software to select individual colonies. The selection criteria are based on user-defined criteria, including size, shape and colour. The Pickolo provides reliable, automated picking of up to 800 colonies an hour, and is fully interfaced with Freedom EVOware®, ensuring seamless integration with upstream and downstream processes for improved laboratory productivity. The technology can be extended to be used for fluorescent labeled colonies, including a Tecan detection device.

“Incorporation of colony picking onto the Freedom EVO platform offers our customers end-to-end automation for molecular biology,” said Dr Tamara Brown, Market Manager for Cells and Proteins at Tecan. “The low cost Pickolo system can be quickly and easily installed on existing workstations, providing an off-the-shelf solution.”