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Hercules, CA, and New Rochelle, NY, September 16, 2010—Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. and Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) today announced that Simon Cocklin, Ph.D., a scientist at the Drexel University College of Medicine, has won a ProteOn™ XPR36 protein interaction array system from Bio-Rad in the ProteOn XPR36 Giveaway Program, a recent scientific research proposal competition. Bio-Rad and GEN co-sponsored the contest in which applicants submitted proposals detailing how they would use the ProteOn XPR36 system in their research and what problems or challenges they anticipated the system would help solve. Dr. Cocklin submitted his winning research proposal on novel research applications for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology.
"I am ecstatic and thrilled to have been chosen as the winner as I have been trying to increase the SPR capability at Drexel University for the past three years," Dr. Cocklin said. The title of his research proposal was "Small-Molecule Inhibitors of HIV-1 Replication."
"My research focuses on the discovery of small-molecule inhibitors against previously unexploited targets in HIV such as components of the Gag polyprotein," explained Dr. Cocklin. "My collaborators and I have discovered some novel compounds that target the matrix and capsid regions of Gag which display antiviral activity. We are interested in using SPR to define structure-affinity relationships."
Dr. Cocklin has several roles at Drexel. At the college's Protein Analysis Core Facility, he is both Director of the Protein Production/Purification Facility, and Co-Director of the Protein-Protein Interaction Facility.
"This award reinforces GEN's and Bio-Rad's commitment and mission to support and facilitate scientific discoveries," said Joan Boyce, Group Publisher of GEN. "We congratulate Dr. Cocklin on his winning submission. We are delighted that Dr. Cocklin and his colleagues will have access to the ProteOn XPR36 system and that it will play such an important role in furthering their research."
"To my knowledge the ProteOn XPR36 Giveaway Program is the first industry competition to award such a high-value prize solely on the basis of scientific merit," said Jill Raymond, Marketing Manager for Bio-Rad." The program and award demonstrate Bio-Rad's long-standing commitment to scientific discovery and the company's leadership in new analytical technologies. We are excited to be a part of Dr. Cocklin's future discoveries in small molecules."
Having experience with other SPR instruments, Dr. Cocklin said he particularly liked the ProteOn XPR36 protein interaction array system for its ease of use and because it allows researchers to look at a greater number of molecular interactions than other SPR instruments used in his lab.
"One of the main advantages of the ProteOn XPR36 system is that it gives you the ability to obtain a full kinetic dataset in just one injection," he pointed out. "This obviates the need to try to scout the regeneration conditions, which is often the key bottleneck in SPR studies."
Dr. Cocklin noted that in addition to using the instrument in his own lab, he plans to make it available to other researchers at the College of Medicine.
About the ProteOn XPR36 Protein Interaction Array System
Based on SPR optical biosensing, the ProteOn XPR36 system is an advanced analytical workstation for generating real-time data on protein affinity, specificity, and interaction kinetics. Through its novel 6 x 6 interaction array, Bio-Rad's patent-pending XPR™ technology multiplexes the analysis of up to six ligands with up to six analytes, enabling the completion of more experiments in less time, without the need for regeneration.
About Bio-Rad
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb), has remained at the center of scientific discovery for more than 50 years, manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. The Company is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for its commitment to quality and customer service. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is headquartered in Hercules, California, and serves more than 85,000 research and industry customers worldwide through its global network of operations. The Company employs over 6,800 people globally and had revenues of nearly $1.8 billion in 2009. For more information, visit www.bio-rad.com.
About Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) has retained its position as the most widely read biotechnology publication around the globe since its launch in 1981. Published 21 times a year and with additional exclusive editorial content online, GEN's unique news and technology focus includes the entire bioproduct life cycle from early-stage R&D, to applied research including omics, biomarkers, as well as diagnostics, to bioprocessing and commercialization. For more information visit the GEN website.
Contact:
Jill Raymond
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
800-876-3425, x5311
Jill_Raymond@bio-rad.com
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Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News