Originally Published EMDM
October 2003
Technology News
Lipid-Tipped Cell Injectors Provide Alternative to Cell Stabbing |
| A gentle touch rather than the conventional stabbing action is all that is required to microinject cells using a range of lipid-coated micropipettes developed in Britain. The easy-to-use and cost-effective devices are based on a proprietary technology dubbed SLAM (soft-lipid-assisted microinjection). |
A microinjection technique has been incorporated into a line of micropipettes. Soft-lipid-assisted microinjection (SLAM) reportedly offers new benefits for cell manipulation.
Launched by Cell Engineering Ltd. (Swansea, Wales, UK), these devices, made of glass or quartz, will enable users to perform previously impossible injections. They will also make conventional microinjections easier to do and cause less damage to cells.
Existing methods involve piercing the cell with a stab of the micropipette. According to the company, there has been little advance in the basic tools used since the 1920s. Researchers at the University of Wales College of Medicine took the technology a step forward in 1998. They discovered that coating pipettes with a certain type of lipid enabled them to microinject cells with greater ease.
The lipid used spontaneously forms bilayers on contact with water, fusing with the cell plasma membrane upon contact. This allows material to be transferred to the cell interior without penetration. Since the process requires only a gentle touch, the cell is not damaged.
Cell Engineering Ltd. is currently developing the technique for biomedical applications. “The demands of biotechnology and biomedical research have long exposed the limitations of existing microinjection techniques,” says CEO Peter Ballard, “and there are thousands of researchers and biotechnologists around the world waiting to exploit new advances like this.” Applications may include techniques important for in vitro fertilization and gene therapy.
Cell Engineering Ltd. was formed in 2002 as a spin-out company of the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff. The firm has received SMART funding and loans from the Welsh Development Agency’s Spin-Out
Programme.
Rita Emmanouilidou
Copyright ©2003 European Medical Device Manufacturer
