Research by Scientists in Life Sciences Division Results in New Instrument February 2001

Gilson's Constellation liquid handler (pictured below) is an instrument that incorporates the ink jet technology developed by Mitch Doktycz of the Biophysics and Biomedical Technologies Section under a CRADA with Rheodyne. Since the licensing of the technology last summer, Rheodyne has spun off a sister company called Innovadyne (Innova - innovative, dyne - force) (http://www.innovadyne.com/) that produces OEM liquid handling parts. Innovadyne has grown to over 20 employees and will probably double by summer. They are moving into a manufacturing facility this month. A substantial part of their business is based on the ORNL-developed technology that meters nanoliter levels of fluid. Nanoliter fluid handling is a critical technology for the drug discovery/high throughput screening field, as well as for genomics. Gilson is partnering with Innovadyne and is the first company to incorporate the ink jets into their system. The instrument went on display at the recent Lab Automation meeting and orders for the instrument will start at PittCon later this Spring. (Contact: Mitch Doktycz, 574-6204 or doktyczmj@ornl.gov; Funding Source: WFO)