Advice would be greatly valued from those with experience in
cell sorting, with regards to setting up a core, central facility. It
is clear that a dedicated operator is essential, together with high
speed sorting capability, or else the instrument will not be used.
This of course can get quite costly. The sorter will likely be used
by multiple departments for both experimental animal research, and
applied clinical research including hematology and infectious
diseases, cancer and molecular biology. The FACS Vantage Dual Laser
bench sorter would be under consideration, but please note that I am
not looking for pros and cons of different company products, but
rather for general advice. Please could I have input on the following
points:
1. Minimum basic configuration vs optional extras.
Foe example, is it essential to have Argon lasers, Fl-4 Detector,
Turbo sorter at the outset, for robust output, or can these be later
additions (budget permitting)?
2. What protective measures are necessary for working with infectious
material such as mycobacteria and HIV, in animal and human tissue.
Are there protective covers available that need to be installed? Are
there operator guidelines published (I seem to recall something from
cytometry the past year)?
3. Any references to recent review articles on sorting and its
applications in biology, including molecular biology (gene
applications), would be valuable.
4. Maintence contracts and insurance of lasers.
I know this type of question has been posted before but there were
few replies that I could find, as the requests were usually for
direct replies off the list. I am happy to repect confidentiality in
the latter case, but imagine the topic would also be of general
interest, and as technology advances, needs to be aired periodically.
I would be grateful for any advice.
Thanks.
Stan.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 03 2002 - 11:53:52 EST