Norgen Biotek’s Magnetic Bead-Based Total RNA Purification Kit is now fully automated, making high-throughput RNA extraction faster, more reliable, and easier to scale.

Designed to isolate all RNA sizes – including microRNA and small RNA – with exceptional purity and reproducibility, this kit delivers consistent performance across a wide range of sample types. Whether you’re working with tissues, cells, bacteria, viruses, bodily fluids, plants or fungi, Norgen Biotek’s advanced RNA purification technology ensures high-yield results without compromising quality.

Manual RNA extraction can be labour-intensive and prone to variability. Norgen Biotek’s magnetic bead-based kit streamlines the process, reducing hands-on time to just 15 minutes, while enhancing consistency across runs.

This kit is fully compatible with leading lab automation platforms, including:

• Opentrons Flex – a modular and cost-effective automation system designed to scale with your lab.

• Tecan

• Thermo Fisher KingFisher

• Hamilton

• IsoPure

Seamless integration allows labs to boost throughput, minimise human error, and free up valuable time for high-value analysis and discovery.

✅ Compatible with a broad range of sample types
✅ High-quality RNA including microRNA and small RNA
✅ Automation-ready for reliable scalability
✅ Reduced hands-on time and increased reproducibility

Explore how Norgen Biotek and Opentrons can modernise your lab’s RNA extraction today or contact Narisa Dawar our Norgen Biotek Product Manager – ndawar@mscience.com.au.

MedChemExpress (MCE) is a supplier of high-quality chemicals, biochemicals and compound libraries, supporting the global scientific research community. MCE’s extensive product portfolio includes a range of screening libraries designed to accelerate drug discovery and development across multiple therapeutic areas. Among these, the Anti-Cancer Compound Library is a powerful tool for researchers seeking targeted solutions and novel cancer therapies.

The library offers over 8,000 compounds with activity against both solid and haematologic tumours, making it suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS).

This collection spans key cancer-related pathways such as apoptosis, cell cycle regulation and signal transduction. It also covers diverse signalling pathways – including kinase, GPCR and epigenetics – providing researchers with a comprehensive platform to explore and identify potential anti-cancer agents.

Many of the compounds have undergone rigorous clinical or preclinical evaluations, with some already approved by the FDA, highlighting their therapeutic potential.

The bioactivity and safety profiles of the compounds make the library a useful resource for advancing cancer research. Each compound is also validated for high purity and quality using NMR and LC/MS techniques, which should lead to precise and reproducible results.

A key advantage of MCE’s compound libraries is that users can fully customise a library to meet research needs from the type, quantity and concentrations of compounds and layout, offering the flexibility that researchers need to drive meaningful discoveries in oncology.

Click here to download the MedChemExpress Compounding Libraries brochure or contact Millennium Science at customerservice@mscience.com.au.

The rapid and accurate detection of bacteria in aquatic environments has typically been challenging due to the complexity of the natural water microbial populations. Traditional agar plate methods for analysing aquatic bacteria are subjective and laborious, and rely on being able to adequately culture bacteria.

The good news is, flow cytometers with a high sensitivity of detection provide tools for detecting and analysing microbes independent of their cultivability, as the size, number, nucleic acid content, activity and classification of bacteria can be derived from scattered light and fluorescence signals using flow cytometry. The Agilent NovoCyte flow cytometer can detect very small particles (down to 0.1 µm) with high sensitivity, and so can be applied to various microbial studies by combining multiparameter analytic capability and convenient fluidic maintenance.

In testing the flow cytometer’s capabilities, water samples from multiple environment waters were stained with either SYBR Green I or SYTOX Green I; both are fluorescent dyes which bind to nucleic acids. The instrument was cleaned prior to running samples, filtered buffers were used, and an unstained sample was run to distinguish background noise from fluorescent signal and appropriate scatter and fluorescent thresholding was undertaken.

Using the NovoCyte flow cytometer, the bacteria in natural water could be differentiated into two groups: bacteria of low nucleic acid content (LNA) and of high nucleic acid content (HNA) (Figure 1). It is broadly accepted that HNA is active bacteria, whereas LNA is inactive, dead or a dormant population.

Figure 1: Detection of bacteria in natural waters.

Total bacterial cell counts in multiple environmental waters was also quantified using the NovoCyte flow cytometer (see Table 1). Results demonstrated that natural waters contained the highest bacterial counts of the samples tested and bottled water the lowest. Furthermore, bacterial counts in still water were 10 to 100x higher than that of spring and mountain stream sources.

Table 1: Total cell counts of bacteria in various water samples.

The detection of bacteria in various water samples is essential to maintaining sanitary and healthy drinking conditions, and the NovoCyte flow cytometer can easily and efficiently detect and quantify bacteria in water from several sources. With detection sensitivity coupled to the automatic cell counts measured for each sample, the NovoCyte is an efficient instrument for this application.

Top image credit: iStock.com/stock_colors

This article was initially published in Lab+Life Scientist.

The LICORbio Odyssey F Imaging System delivers high sensitivity and broad dynamic range with just a click. Available in 3- and 10-channel models, this advanced platform scans samples up to twice as fast as previous generations, supporting a wide array of applications beyond standard qualitative Western blotting. Whether you’re imaging proteins, nucleic acids, or other biomolecules, the Odyssey F accelerates your workflow without compromising data quality.

Equipped with dual near-infrared (NIR) lasers, the Odyssey F ensures optimal throughput and quantitation for high-quality imaging. In addition, two visible fluorescence lasers unlock powerful multiplexing capabilities, enabling researchers to explore multiple targets simultaneously in plate-based assays, slide imaging, and beyond. This flexibility makes it ideal for researchers aiming to capture more data from a single experiment.

Users benefit from rapid scan speeds that reduce total imaging time while improving reproducibility. The Odyssey F is engineered for superior sensitivity and consistent performance, giving researchers increased confidence in their data. Its expanded dynamic range means fewer adjustments and more reliable quantification across a broad concentration spectrum.

Designed for versatility, the Odyssey F supports a wide variety of assays and sample types. The expanded focus offset range ensures compatibility with numerous plate formats and sample depths. Whether you’re conducting EMSA/Gel Shift Assays, In-Cell Westerns, Tissue Section Imaging, or Whole Slide Imaging (WSI), the Odyssey F adapts to your lab’s needs, enhancing both productivity and application reach.

Unchained Labs has raised the bar in biologics characterisation with the launch of Aunty – the world’s fastest and most high-throughput platform for protein stability analysis. Tailored for researchers in biotech, pharma, and gene therapy, Aunty delivers unprecedented speed, sensitivity, and flexibility across a wide range of stability parameters – all from a single 96-well quartz plate.

🔬 Comprehensive Stability Profiling — In Minutes

Aunty characterises protein melting (Tm, Tonset), aggregation (Tagg, Tsize), colloidal stability (kD, B22, G22), long-term stability, and viral vector genome ejection, reading a full 96-well plate every minute. With only 8 µL sample per well, it saves valuable material while delivering maximum insight.

💡 Three Technologies. One Platform.

• Full-Spectrum Fluorescence – For intrinsic or dye-based detection of thermal unfolding.
• Static Light Scattering (SLS) – Detects early-stage aggregation with exceptional sensitivity.
• Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) – Monitors particle size, polydispersity, and colloidal behaviour.

These modalities can be run in parallel or independently, offering complete flexibility to tailor your assay to the molecule at hand.

1. Thermal Ramp Analysis

Track unfolding and aggregation simultaneously using fluorescence and SLS. Aunty’s sensitivity enables detection down to 25 µg/mL, providing reliable Tm and Tagg measurements across formulations, concentrations, and constructs.

2. Protein and Viral Vector Sizing

Aunty’s ISO-compliant DLS covers particles from 0.3 to 1000 nm. Whether you’re working with therapeutic proteins or viral vectors, it delivers high-precision size measurements and polydispersity profiles in seconds.

3. Colloidal Stability

Quantify aggregation risks under different formulations with Aunty’s automated calculation of kD, B22, and G22. This supports developability assessments for high-concentration biologics and formulation transitions (e.g. IV to SC).

4. Capsid and Genome Stability for AAVs

Using SYBR Gold fluorescence, Aunty detects genome ejection temperatures (Tm) in under an hour. It also pinpoints capsid disruption (Tagg) via SLS – essential for viral vector stability profiling.

5. Isothermal Stability Studies

Run long-term thermal stability tests at set temperatures over hours or days. Monitor changes in unfolding or aggregation over time – with sealed wells for sample integrity and minimal instrument occupation.

At the heart of Aunty is the first 96-well quartz glass consumable – optimised for superior optical clarity, chemical compatibility, and low-volume use. Automation-friendly and easy to seal, it accelerates workflows and minimises contamination risks.

Aunty’s software simplifies complex workflows with easy setup, real-time monitoring, and intuitive visualisation tools. Whether you’re comparing formulations, screening candidates, or optimising viral vector stability, Aunty delivers actionable results – fast.

• Sample Volume: 8 µL
• Read Time: 1 minute for 96 samples
• Temperature Range: 15–95°C
• Light Scattering Sensitivity: Down to 0.05 mg/mL (SLS)
• DLS Range: 0.3–1000 nm
• Genome Ejection Sensitivity: ≥5 × 10¹¹ vg/mL

Whether you’re optimising a therapeutic antibody, screening excipients, or validating AAV vector stability, Aunty is the gold standard in high-throughput protein and viral vector stability characterisation.

For biotech and pharma researchers looking to speed up developability, reduce material usage, and gain multi-parameter insight in a single run – Aunty is the instrument you’ve been waiting for.

Contact Millennium Science – your local distributor of Unchained Labs in Australia and New Zealand – for a demo or to request more information.