Magnetic Bead Technology

A Brief History and How It Applies

Report #1

Group:

The magnetic bead technology alliance consists of the following members:

 Zachary Nicoll

 Shiv Sharma

 Garo Yessayan

 Jason Tarantino

 George Chahwan

Objective:

The objective is to track the on-going progress and evolution of the biotechnological field through the experimentation with magnetic bead technology and its applications to modern society. We are going to look at the history of magnetic bead technology, from its development to its current applications, and their effect on the scientific community.

Background:

Magnetic Bead Technology became popular in the 1980’s with the discovery that magnets can be used to more accurately perform already present technology. The technology is based around the use of para-magnetic materials that act as magnets in the presence of a magnetic field but are no longer magnetic when the field is gone. This allows scientists to study the materials effects in a magnetic field and then separate the proteins and peptides to get physical results. Major companies have become interested in the development and application of the technology so it has been able to grow rapidly. The major upsides of this technology are that it is significantly cheaper, requires less labor and is widely applicable. These advantages are the driving forces behind the conception and development of the magnetic bead technology. Some of the applications are highly interesting and can be productive in the medical field. Bar-coded magnetic bead (BMB) technology is new, upcoming and is currently being introduced to society. This technology can help us in the medical field by assisting doctors in the bacteria testing department. Bacteria can be quickly identified and can also get accurately matched up with the best possible antibody. This can cut days off the old methods of testing which can not only improve a patient’s health faster, but can also hinder anti-body resistance by picking the strongest medication for the job. In addition, these advancements will offer new opportunities for automated, low-cost and fast cancer diagnosis.

Division of Labor:

Due to the fact that there are five members in the group diligent planning was required to create a working schedule and to distribute the work load efficiently. In order for everyone to do a similar amount of work, while still substantially contributing to the project, an outline was created to help guide through the responsibilities. It was decided that there are multiple aspects to the project that are going to be shared responsibilities such as; group work on the reports and PowerPoint’s, shared peer evaluation sheets, continuous individual research, speaking during the project and finalizing the work done in the group. It was decided to make individuals specialize in specific areas of research and be in charge of certain tasks.

 Zachary Nicoll

 Writing the main reports

 Research on Asynchronous Magnetic Bead Rotation

 Shiv Sharma

 Creating PowerPoint

 Research on Bead Separation and History

 Garo Yessayan

 Research on Dynabeads

 In charge of peer evaluations

 Reference list

 Jason Tarantino

 Research on Barcoded Magnetic Bead Technology

 Research the history and development of Magnetic Bead Technology

 Reviewing and finalizing projects

 George Chahwan  Research on Metabolic Markers

 Time table layout and division of labor

 Research on the current progression of the technology

Work Schedule:

 Week 1:

 Research overall topic of course paper

 Create PowerPoint for the first presentation and write first report

 Find specific applications to research and discuss

 Week 2:

 Research current progress and any developments in the technology

 Update PowerPoint presentation and improve on previous work

 Peer review sheets completed

 Week 3:

 Work on and complete the second report

 Continue researching and learning the topic

 Week 4:

 Finalize the second PowerPoint presentation

 Start to write the final paper

 Look for new progress on the technology

 Week 5:

 Second peer review assignment completed

 Have a developing final paper

 Week 6:

 Finalize literary review paper  Have the final presentation completed

Conclusion:

The progress made up to this point is basically becoming familiar with the research topic. An introduction to the topic and small interpretations of current applications has been the main focus point, as well as organizing the group into their responsibilities. There is still a lot of research to be done and a better understanding to be obtained before the final literary review paper can be written.

References:

 Invitrogen http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/brands/Dynal/The-History-of-Dynabeads.html http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/home/brands/Dynal/dynabeads_technology.html

 Dexter Magnetic Technologies http://www.dextermag.com/Separators

 Applied BioCode http://www.apbiocode.com/ http://www.apbiocode.com/technology.htm

 To Bead or Not To Bead: Applications of Magnetic Bead Technology The Scientist 1998 http://f1000scientist.com/article/display/18094/bead_980622.pdf

 BioMagnetic Research and Technology http://groups.google.com/group/intro-to-biosensors/browse_thread/thread/342bffb80f38c126

 Walk-away Magnetic Bead-based DNA Purification Using the JANUS Automated Workstation Authors: Lois Tack, Ph.D., Gary Reznik, Ph.D. http://las.perkinelmer.com/content/ApplicationNotes/APP_DNAMagBeadApr09FINAL.pdf