INTEGRA’s VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipette is supporting crucial experimental work in longitudinal HIV studies.

There have recently been tremendous breakthroughs in treatment of HIV infections, but challenges still remain. Scarlette Abbou, an engineer at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), explained her lab’s work in this field: “CD4 T-cells – among others – act as reservoirs for HIV, and are established during the earliest stage of infection. These latent reservoirs are able to survive antiretroviral therapy (ART), which allows infected cells to become reactivated and produce HIV after treatment is halted, or if resistance develops. Our team is looking at all the factors that contribute to the survival of the virus in these circumstances, which is really important for the advancement of new treatments.”

“Our cohort consists of around a dozen patients, and screening multiple samples for each individual is a lot of work. We receive blood samples and extract both the CD4 T-cells and genomic DNA from the host, followed by analysis via PCR, gel electrophoresis and sequencing. We often prepare up to 20 PCR plates per patient at a time, and found that pipetting between the various labware formats was incredibly time consuming using a manual pipette. To deal with this issue, we bought two 8 channel VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipettes, and were immediately happy with how they improved the workflow! The VOYAGER reduces the time to transfer samples from a 96 well plate into a gel from around 40 minutes to five minutes or less. I’ve also noticed a significant improvement in accuracy as I’m not having to pipette each well individually. The VOYAGER really has enabled my research and allowed me to get from experiment to result so much quicker – it’s fantastic.”

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INTEGRA Biosciences is a leading provider of high-quality laboratory tools and consumables for liquid handling and media preparation. The company is committed to creating innovative solutions which fulfil the needs of its customers in research, diagnostics and quality control within the life sciences markets and medical sector. Today, INTEGRA innovative laboratory products are widely used all around the world. More than 100 distribution partners form a worldwide sales network providing responsive and competent services to customers. These distribution partners are supported by a highly motivated and experienced team of specialists at the company headquarters in Zizers, Switzerland and Hudson, NH, USA. INTEGRA is an ISO 9001 certified company.

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