PickPen^® technology

Move particles – not liquids

PickPen® magnetic tools spearhead a new approach to magnetic purification. Rather than immobilizing magnetic particles and then removing the surrounding liquid, the PickPen approach is to lift the particles directly out of the liquid. The particles can thus be moved rapidly and effortlessly from one stage of the purification to the next.

Moving particles, not liquids enables gentle isolation steps and high quality purified products. The PickPen method also allows visual control of the process as well as optimization of protocols. The method eliminates strong external magnetic fields and centrifugal forces by collecting the magnetic particles from the sample vessel. This is especially beneficial in DNA purification applications with fragile samples.

The PickPen method saves time and provides greater flexibility. Users are free to choose vessels and formats to suit their work.

To see PickPen in action, please check our video links.

The original version of the PickPen magnetic tool is a hand-held single-magnet device, PickPen 1-M. You can use it to carry the sample yourself from one stage of the assay to the next. You can see the sample at all times and have full control of the process. There are also an 8-magnet manual version, PickPen 8-M, which allows you to process samples from microplates a whole column at a time increasing the throughput manually, and the fully automated MagRo™ 8-M workstation for sample purification and liquid handling.

Applications

For use with the PickPen tools we recommend our range of optimized QuickPick reagents or special magnetic particles sold separately. However, you can also create your own PickPen methods. In general, PickPen can be used in all applications that use magnetic particles as a basis of purification, though not all particles are equally suitable. Particle size and magnetic properties are the two major factors that will affect performance. Typically, products with a diameter of greater than 1 µm and iron content of around 50% or more will work best. With increasing particle size, sedimentation becomes a limiting factor. Also the volumes of liquids used must be optimized. PickPen technology gives the benefit of using almost any vessel type with the PickPen 1-M. With the PickPen 8-M and MagRo 8-M robotic workstation several microplates may be used, ranging from standard 96 well plates to sample reservoirs where the sample volume can be extended up to 10 ml.