The Scripps Research Institute Molecular Screening Center (SRIMSC) at Scripps Florida is requesting funds for the purchase of replacement GNF Systems plate dispensers for its HTS robotic platform. These plate dispensers are designed to work with our existing automation architecture and software to prepare bioassays using 384-well and 1536-well micro-well plate technology. Although the current GNF Systems dispensers have provided outstanding service, they are now obsolescent having been used for near 13-years (installed: Sept 20, 2005) and having reached End of Life service from the OEM. The SRIMSC seeks funds to purchase two replacement GNF Systems dispensers for the current existing ones in order to continue providing full HTS support to Scripps Research faculty and the broader NIH research community as a whole. Plate dispensers are a critical component within a HTS robotic screening cell having the task of preparing bioassay titer plates as directed by centralized HTS software which directs their operations in concert with the HTS robotic arm. These units are capable of dispensing a variety of biologics including buffers, proteins, detection agents, wash reagents and living cells with high precision in the 0.5 to 20 uL range. Their loss of function would essential incapacitate full HTS automation. The current dispensers are no longer supported by the OEM vendor (GNF Systems) as of March 1, 2017; due to the lack of available parts and their use of unsupported Windows XP operating system. No other dispenser of their kind are located at the Scripps Florida facility. The SRIMSC served as one of four comprehensive HTS centers commissioned by the NIH during the MLPCN program (2005-2013). In this MLPCN era, the SRIMSC screened over 280 assays using these plate dispensers on the HTS robotic cell, and continues this critical screening task to date. It is crucial that these devices be replaced in a timely fashion to avoid crippling ongoing NIH-funded activities and hindering research programs aimed at advancing basic and translational research. Instrument support from the NIH will help ensure that the SRIMSC HTS services can meet its current and future obligations in a timely fashion without interruption to NIH-funded HTS activities.
Fully automated High Throughput Screening (HTS) uses robotics to test very large and diverse compound libraries for the discovery of novel chemical modulators that serve as the base for advancing new drugs. HTS robotics is an assembly of multiple instrumental components, i.e. dispensers, incubators, plate readers, and robotic arm that must work in concert with one another to complete a drug discovery campaign. Requested are replacement dispensers that automate the bulk reagent dispensation into assay plates since the present units are obsolete having reached ?End of Life? service from the OEM vendor.
