Screen makers

Screen preparation is not only tedious, time consuming and potentially error prone, but the accuracy with which a screen design can explore the high dimensional chemical space determines whether a crystallization experiment leads to a hit.

The Alchemist™ screen maker family

Alchemist family: Alchemist DT (left) and Alchemist HT (right)

The Alchemist simplifies fine and coarse screen production with these unique approaches:

• Unmatched accuracy using patented "Tapper" technology
• No cross contamination and no waste with patented BirdFeeders™
• Fast and simple screen optimizations with CrystalTrak™

Unmatched accuracy

The accuracy achieved by automated screen makers is best gauged by coefficients of variation, "CVs," a measure of deviations between actual and target dispense volumes. The Alchemist HT achieves CVs of less than 2% down to 1 μl even for the most difficult to dispense stocks, namely highly viscous PEGs. This unmatched precision is achieved with the Tapper technology. The Tapper's name comes from the action of a rapid "tap" applied to the syringe plunger as a method of removing the residual drop that remains on the needle at the end of a syringe dispense.

No cross contamination, no waste

BirdFeeders eliminate waste and risks of cross-contamination.

Cross-contamination creates problems when trying to reproduce experiments, while waste of chemicals such as detergents can drive up the cost of experimentation dramatically. Although seemingly unrelated, cross-contamination and waste originate from sharing components (pipettes, tubing, receptacles) of the dispense setup. The Alchemist eliminates this problem by introducing BirdFeeder technology. With BirdFeeders, each chemical is stored in a self-contained container and  off-the-shelf consumables—Nalgene bottles and Eppendorf pipettes—are used for on-deck storage and non-contact dispensing.

Fast and simple screen optimizations

Included with every Alchemist is CrystalTrak, a software package designed specifically for protein crystallography. It features a comprehensive crystallization and chemical database that includes most commercial screens, and enables easy screen design and one-click optimization tools. Once you design your screen, CrystalTrak automatically calculates the recipe and defines the necessary stock solutions for use with the Alchemist. Stock management tools and barcode tracking ensure that the correct stock solutions and necessary volumes of solutions are available on the deck before any screen generation begins. 

Click here for a video that demonstrates how a screen optimization is performed in CrystalTrak.

Side-by-side comparison of functionality

 * Producing coarse screens is possible, but may require repopulating deck with stocks during dispense.