I have a long history of using Bio-Rad's gel equipment. That doesn't mean I
am totally Bio-Rad biased. But overall, it is usually pretty good stuff.
I currently have a Bio-Rad IEF cell. We have run a few hundred IPG strips
through it. It works really well. It is simple to use (this is important),
easy to clean, about as short a run time as can be expected. It also has a
very small footprint on the lab bench and does not require external
chillers. It works well and the final 2-D gel images are nice. I would
highly recommend this unit. You can read a more in depth review that I
wrote at www.biowire.com.
I have used the pharmacia multiphor and the IGPhor set-ups in the past. The
multi-phor works well, but is not what I would call simple to set up. It's
not brain surgery or anything, it's just not as easy and straight forward as
the Bio-Rad. It also is messy. It requires a lot of mineral oil and that
ends up dripping everywhere when you disassemble the cell for cleanup. It
also has a lot of plumbing associated with it to run coolant to and from the
chiller. The multiphor gives very good results and the final 2-D gel images
will be good. The IGPhor is easier to run than the multiphor, but and this
is certainly my opinion, I don't think that the focusing was as good. I
also don't think that the IGPhor is as good a unit as the Bio-Rad, as far as
ease of use and clean-up. The cost of the individual strip holders is also
a drawback or at least was 1.5 years ago when I used them.
Now, lets talk strips. I currently use Bio-Rad's strips. They are not as
consistently good as Pharmacias. They absorb sample unevenly and sometimes
incompletely. The resulting 2-D gels are not as consistently nice as when
we use pharmacia's strips. Consistency is a big point here. Sometimes they
work perfectly, just not every time. I use Bio-Rad's strips because they
are clearly labeled as to how they fit into the IEF cell and onto the top of
the 2nd dimension slab gel. Pharmacias strips are consistently high
quality, but are not clearly marked for orientation and it does not take
much of a brain fart for myself or a technician to orient them incorrectly
and hence either ruin the run or have confusion with the final gel image
analysis ("Ummmm, which side is basic again?"). If you have good faith in
yourself and your lab, I think the hot set-up is the Bio-Rad IEF cell and
Pharmacia strips. Just be careful with the orientation of the strips. One
last point, the strip rehydration trays may play a role here, I don't know
for sure. Bio-Rad uses disposable ones and I like that, but they may be one
reason for the incomplete and uneven rehydration. Pharmacias strip
rehydration tray is not disposable, but it may work better than Bio-Rad's.
One more last point, and this is strictly my opinion and you can take it for
what it's worth. Bio-Rad's sales and support people are usually very good,
although they have not listened to my constant bitching about their strip
quality. I have had and seen others have lots of problems with Pharmacia's
sales people in the past. To the point where common decency has been
absent. My recent history with Pharmacia's sales people has been better and
maybe the company is changing.
Jim Lawrence
Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl.
7300 NW 62nd Ave
Johnston, IA 50131
515-270-5909
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maria_Parkman@berlex.com [mailto:Maria_Parkman@berlex.com]
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 2:04 PM
> To: Recipients of ABRF List
> Subject: 2-D electrophoresis
>
>
>
>
> Dear Colleques,
>
> Our company is in the process of comparing two systems for 2-D
> electrophoresis. They are the Pharmacia IPGphor and the
> Bio-Rad Protean
> IEF Cell .
> We are not equipped with any software or densitomers as
> yet. If you
> could please give us some input on either of these systems and the
> necessary accessories from these companies, we would greatly
> appreciate your help.
>
> Look forward to hearing from you, Thank you very much.
>
> Maria Parkman,
> Berlex Biosciences
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Sep 01 2000 - 16:10:38 EDT