Separations Forensics Portfolio 1 | Page 4

DNA Isolation from different Trace Materials Isolation of DNA out of different trace materials becomes more and more important in the field of forensics. For more information on Hamilton Robotics products, contact [email protected] Starting with lysed trace material, the fully automated process on the MICROLAB STAR includes DNA extraction, quantification, normalization and PCR set-up. For DNA extraction out of trace materials like cigarettes, sputum and hairs, the ChargeSwitch® Forensic DNA Purification Kit from Invitrogen is used. After isolation, the DNA is quantified using fluorescence dyes with an integrated BMG FLUOstar plate reader. Finally, the DNA is normalized and used for PCR set-up. The DNA concentration is measured in a range of 7pg/µl to 1000pg/µl. Samples with a concentration lower than 30pg/µl are excluded from PCR set-up in order to save expensive chemistry. The complete processing of 96 samples is finished within 4h. The data handling procedure is customized and ensures that the samples are traced throughout the whole process. A text file with the sample information is used as an input file, and an output file for documentation is generated at the end of the process. Hamilton Robotics workstations make use of FluidX sample storage consumables and Macherey-Nagel nucleic acid extraction kits. has placed 40 Hamilton systems in South Africa since January 2011, and has 8 dedicated Hamilton engineers for all required solutions.