Description

Researchers at the Centro Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CBMSO) in Madrid, Spain have demonstrated how the MEDIACLAVE Media Preparator and the DOSE IT Peri¬staltic Pump from INTEGRA are able to signifi¬cantly en¬hance the efficiency and re¬produci¬bility of fly food preparation.

Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, is a commonly used model research organism in genetics, physiology and evolutionary develop¬ment biology. Successful experiments using Dro¬sophila typically depend on optimal husbandry and on providing good fly food quality. In some Droso¬phila labs, hun¬dreds of vials are filled each day with fly food.

Mer¬cedes Dávila, Head of Media Preparation Services at CBMOS com¬mented, “Using a basic media cooking pot approach we could not accurately control the tem¬perature of our ‘fly food’ during preparation and had to stir the mixture manually using a ladle. Because of the high viscosity of the fly food our technicians found filling all the vials a time-con¬suming and tedious process and often the food quality vial to vial was not consistent”. She added “Our subsequent purchase of a stirrer kettle helped to improve the fly food mixture quality. However, prepar¬ing the food was still much too slow because it took several hours to cool the mixture to dis¬pensing tempera¬ture”.

CBMSO’s investment in an INTEGRA MEDIACLAVE 30 Me¬dia Prepa¬rator and a DOSE IT peristaltic pump finally was the solution to this problem. Reflecting on the advantages that CBMSO had gained from the INTEGRA system - Mer¬cedes Dávila said, “Our MEDIACLAVE 30 gives us the possi¬bility to pre¬pare 30 litres of fly food in only 95 minutes. The integrated cooling system makes the process much faster than pre¬vious solutions”. She contin¬ued, “We can now keep the fly food mixture at the de¬sired dispensing tem¬perature. This allows us to dis¬pense the food di¬rectly from the cuvette into the vials, without risking contamination or premature solidifi¬cation inside the dispensing tubing.” Concluding Mer¬cedes Dávila said “The electronic or paper process docu¬mentation from the INTEGRA system has enabled us to have stan-dardized methods and fully traceable quality”.