Evolution of Microplate Technology

Enter any clinical diagnostic or research lab today and you will see the intricate Evolution of dance of microplates being filled with samples, transported into various diagnostic and analytical instruments, washed, and then begin the process Microplate all over again. The microplate has evolved over the past 65 years into an indispensable piece of equipment used Technology in many labs today. Sponsored by: 1951 19 In response to a serious influenza epidemic in Hungary, scientist and inventor Gyula Takátsy worked to find a quick, 1953 reliable, and low-cost method The industry gains momentum 50 for identifying the influenza as a manufacturer begins mass virus. He constructed six producing molded 96-well rows of 12 wells into a block microplates for the first time. of acrylic, and the world’s first microplate was born. During the same time frame, Dr. Takátsy also created the first form of a microplate automation tool, helping scientists mix and transfer pre-defined volumes in serial dilution testing. Dr. Gyula Takátsy 1964 To work towards manufacturing a more automated loop system, Dr. John Sever, who was leading a Rubella vaccine program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), teamed up with engineer Frank Cooke. Together, the team created microtiter plates. For the first time, lab technicians were able to maneuver eight to 1967 Dr. John Sever Although the system 12 machine loops and droppers, developed by Sever and Cooke 1969 twirling them around and Researchers at the NIH was efficient, it was still a moving them from row to row manual one. A few years later, were using serial dilution in a plate. for minimum inhibitory the creation of the Autotiter, concentrations (MIC) for the brainchild of Tom Astle, antibiotic susceptibility testing, provided researchers with fully and they saw the Autotiter as automated serial dilution. The a potential tool for gathering Autotiter proved itself as a more definitive numbers from worthy clinical lab instrument MIC. Dr. Hugh Gerlach, at St. after performing thousands of Francis Hospital in Wichita, hemagglutination inhibition conducted an initial trial with tests for a trial for a Rubella the Autotiter, but it lost to vaccine. one of Gerlach’s technicians, according to Astle. However, 1976 it would go on to make a In London, the Centers comeback. for Disease Control (CDC) began using microplates for ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) diagnostics and quality control techniques, which became one of the most common applications for microplates. This created a high demand for instruments to perform ELISAs, which inspired manufacturers to evolve early microplate readers into the Multiskan 1983 photometer—the earliest Kary Mullis developed a new version of the common day technique used in molecular microplate reader. biology, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which generates thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence. This led to the development of new microplates specifically 1986 designed for performing PCR. Dr. Kary Mullis Wallac, a biotechnology Mullis went on to win a Nobel company now known as Prize in Chemistry for this PerkinElmer, developed contribution. the Wallac Betaplate. The Betaplate is used for scintillation counting, or detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It was the first-ever automated 1990 microplate-based instrument Tom Astle, the creator of the for scintillation counting. Autotiter, continued to position himself as a lead innovator 1991 The first 864-well microplate in the development of new 1992 was produced, enabling single technologies for drug discovery Bigger microplates don’t machines to increase their labs. Building on the Wallac always mean better. Companies throughput to over 10,000 Betaplate instrument, Astle continued to experiment with samples per day. created the Harvestor2 and various sized microplates in Quadra 3 automated pipettors. search of the right combination of thermal mass and capacity, leading to the production of the first 384-well plate. 1996 The demand for high throughput screening leads to 1997 the development of multiple The first-ever multi-detection 1998 formats including 1536-well and microplate reader with In January, the Society of 3456-well plates by Whatman fluorescence polarization, BioMolecular Screening (SBS) and Aurora Biosciences. dubbed the BMG POLARstar, established a committee to was developed. standardize the dimensional elements of the microplate. 20 Going forward, microplate 2004 manufacturers modified BioTek introduced a multi- production equipment to adhere detection system, the to the new standards, and the Synergy™ 4 with Hybrid industry saw an increased Technology™, giving scientists ability to develop automation 00 the ability to perform equipment. an unlimited number of microplate-based assays. 2009 As microplate automation continued to evolve, a new product hit the market that combined a microplate washer and reagent dispenser in one instrument. With the new 2010 In 2010, the Society for combination washer dispenser, Biomolecular Sciences merged called the EL406, researchers no with the Association for longer needed to maintain and Laboratory Automation to form purchase separate instruments. a new organization, the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS). Henceforth, microplate standards have been 2015 governed by this organization Researchers created a cost- and are known as ANSI/SLAS effective cellphone-based standards. microplate reader, featuring a 3D-printed opto-mechanical attachment. The hand-held instrument helps researchers 2016 2016 perform high-throughput A new microplate for genomics Researchers launched the disease screening and tracking sample preparation was Spark® 20M multimode of vaccination campaigns. launched at the Analytica 2016 microplate reader to help exhibition in Germany. It was with drug discoveries and designed with thickened walls advanced life science research and supporting ribs to prevent applications. cracking or leaking when used in Geno/Grinder machines..

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