Accelerating vaccine development with reliable liquid handling
Developing vaccines to improve global health
The Wagner research group aims to improve the quality of life and health across the world by focusing on the development of vaccines for a wide range of conditions. These include viruses for which no vaccines currently exist, such as HIV, diseases endemic in lower-income countries – including Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever – potential future pandemic-causing agents, and viruses associated with malignancies.
The group works across the full development pipeline, from epidemiological data analysis to in vitro vaccine design, immunogenicity analyses and human clinical trials. Anja Kalender, Laboratory Technician, explained: “Our work focuses on designing and testing new vaccine candidates against many different viral pathogens. This field of research is important for global health, as developing effective vaccines is essential to prevent dangerous viral outbreaks and fight infectious diseases. Thanks to developments in AI and machine learning – as well as next-generation RNA technologies and better delivery systems – the field is moving very quickly, allowing us to make vaccines more stable and effective against new mutations.”
Improving workflows in the lab
The group uses many different techniques, meaning flexibility is a key consideration for any laboratory equipment. “Our tasks change every day depending on the current projects. We do a lot of cell culture, DNA and mRNA preparation, as well as serological analysis including high throughput ELISAs and virus neutralization assays. The work also involves a lot of assay standardization, where precision and reproducibility is critical” said Anja.
The sensitive nature of the assays performed means the group needs to use equipment it can rely on. The lab has used products from INTEGRA for more than 10 years, and now uses PIPETBOY acu 2 serological pipet controllers, VIAFLO electronic pipettes, VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipettes and SWITCH hybrid pipettes. The SWITCH has been a new addition to the lab, as Anja explained: “We recently bought 3 of them, including the charging stands, to replace a model from a competitor that broke after only 5 years. We have used many INTEGRA products over the years, and really appreciate their great durability and functionality, so we decided to try the SWITCH too.”
Enhancing ergonomics in the lab
The electronic repeat dispense mode of the SWITCH is ideal for sample and reagent aliquoting, cutting down on the number of repetitive movements required. The team has also found the improved ergonomics to be a real benefit, as the SWITCH is specifically designed with user comfort in mind, featuring a larger diameter body that promotes a good grip. “Before we started using the SWITCH, the repetitive nature of many assays was the biggest workflow challenge. Pipetting large volumes and distributing master mixes for many samples was really tiring on our hands,” Anja explained. “We mainly use the electronic dispensing feature on the SWITCH, which saves us a lot of time when aliquoting reagents and distributing master mixes. In particular, the SWITCH shortens our turnaround times, as preparing PCRs is much faster, which saves us a lot of time every week and improves the stability and reproducibility of our results.” Anja added.
Reliable tools and service for faster, more ergonomic workflows
INTEGRA’s pipetting solutions have become an integral part of the Wagner group’s daily laboratory work, helping to improve workflow efficiency, reproducibility and user comfort as the group tackles its varied molecular biology tasks. The team has benefited from many INTEGRA products – from its long-lasting PIPETBOY serological pipet controllers to VIAFLO and VOYAGER pipettes, and now the SWITCH hybrid pipettes – allowing them to carry out vital research unimpeded. “We save a lot of time every week using INTEGRA products, and the company’s customer service is also very good. Our local sales representative is always helpful and friendly; she is quick to reply whenever we need information or a quote, or want to test a new product. She has saved us a lot of time and effort by introducing us to the VIAFLO and VOYAGER pipettes, as well as the new SWITCH. Thanks for making great products that help us with our daily lab work,” Anja concluded.
