Fig. 1: The chemagic Magnetic Separation Module I. with standard cover

Fig. 2: The chemagic Magnetic Separation Module I.
(1) Electromagnet (2) 96-well metal rod head.

Fig. 3: The chemagic Heads

An innovative robot designed to realize high throughput sample preparation based on M-PVA Magnetic Beads, the chemagic Magnetic Separation Module I is the complete solution for DNA/RNA-preparation from blood, tissue, bacteria, food, plants, etc. for

• PCR-product purification
• Genotyping
• Virus Detection
• GMO-testing
• etc.

Why use the chemagic Magnetic Separation Module I?

Classical methods of DNA and RNA isolation are based on column or precipitation methods. These techniques require centrifugation or vacuum steps and often have lengthy processing times as well as volume limitations, complicating their integration into automated high throughput processes. Additionally, the automated processing of these methods may cause cross contamination of the purified nucleic acids, making this method unsuitable for many diagnostic purposes.

Sample preparation using chemagic Kits are carried out quickly. No centrifugation steps are employed. Due to the high magnetite content of the particles, isolations from both, very small (e.g. 1 µl) and very large (e.g. 10 ml) sample volumes, are easily accomplished. Furthermore, the low non-specific binding properties of the matrix ensure the isolation of highly pure nucleic acids from crude samples and critical sample materials. The isolated products can be used directly in a variety of downstream applications. Chemagic products address the following obstacles of automated nucleic acid separation:

• Restricted working volumes
  chemagic: fully scalable
• Limited to special reaction vessels
  chemagic: all standard vessels
• High throughput applications cannot be realized
  chemagic: up to 4,000 samples/d
• Additional high costs of disposables
  chemagic: transparent costs

Another problem applying automated magnetic bead based separation technologies is the insufficient or ineffective resuspension of the magnetic bead pellets after magnetic separation to enable sufficient washing and elution steps. This ineffectiveness results in lower yields and purity of the isolated nucleic acids.

In the chemagic system, magnetic separation is achieved through the use of an electromagnet and magnetizeable rods, which are immersed into the magnetic bead suspension. When the electromagnet is switched on (below left), the rods become magnetic and the beads are separated.

On the other hand, the same rods are connected to a stirring motor. To resuspend the magnetic bead pellet in subsequent buffers, the stirring motor is switched on guaranteeing the complete and smooth resuspension of the bead pellet (right picture). This normally difficult step becomes now quick and thorough, resulting in isolation products with both high yields and purities.