We don’t always know about all the technologies that help us live better. That is probably true, at least for most of us, in regards to microplate readers. They came through for humanity, when the COVID-19 crisis came around, as it was one of the first technology able to determine when someone was infected with the virus. It did so within 30 minutes, which was a great gain of time, at the beginning, over other test methods. Here are a few fields in which microplate readers help humans live better.
In Virology Treatment and Research
As we mentioned in the introduction, microplate readers came in handy, during the sanitary crisis that was due to the coronavirus. The longer time it took to identify a carrier, the larger number of people that a person could infect. Therefore, the less than 30 minutes that it took for micro plate readers by BMG Labtech to identify a carrier, was a great step forward, at a moment of increasing confusion, around the world. And although they are a great tool to identify a virus in someone, they are still mostly used for another purpose in virology, which is to help in genetic engineering.
The only way to stop a virus is to understand it first. We need to learn how they function and how they are built, in order to create solutions against them. Of course, this means discovering a vaccine, as we saw during the latest epidemic, but also to find new ways to test and to create antiviral drugs in order to fight them. All along, it enables researchers to understand viruses better, which leads to a quicker reaction time, when new viruses show up in our society. We now know how important this is, as we clearly saw that hospitals can become clogged rapidly, when a major health issue arises.
Used for Quality Control Purposes
We are currently experiencing a major disturbance in the production process. That is directly caused by the effects of the lockdowns that took place during the coronavirus crisis, followed immediately by the war in Ukraine. It all helped caused a staggering inflation that everyone has to pay the price for, today. Quality control is more important than ever inside manufactures, with some of them functioning on a much lower number of employees than pre-pandemic time. If a problem was to arise, inside a food manufacturing plant, it could cause a lot of people to become sick, and some of them could die. Microplate readers play a crucial role in DNA analysis by providing a high-throughput and automated method for measuring various aspects of DNA samples. And DESeq2 is a statistical tool that helps identifying differentially expressed genes from RNA-Seq data.
The microplate readers are used to make the tests which ensure that everything is right with the food that we buy at the supermarket. It analyses the purity, the composition and the quantity of each element that finds its way into the final product, in order to make sure that everything is as it should be. It can identify contaminants and impurities that could be found inside, and which could later on turn into a microbial contamination or the creation of toxins. This process is not only handled by microplate readers for food products, but also for drugs, medicinal products, as well as those that find their way into the animal and vegetable industry.
To prevent and treat Cancer
Cancer is still a major cause of death in humans. Although we have made lots of progress on the treatments for some of them, including breast cancer and Hodgkin’s disease, we still need scientists to learn more about it, in order to create treatments that will help, if not cure it forever. The microplate reader technology can help identify the presence of cancer inside someone. It does that through an analysis that looks for presence of specific tumour markers and other types of tests that these machines can proceed to. Most importantly, it enables researchers to learn more about cancer to help them in their fight against this illness.
To help Our Environment
We will end this article by looking into microplate readers work in the environmental field. However, you should know that there are many other sectors that call upon microplate readers, in order to make our lives better, which include immunology and microbiology, just to name a few.
In regards to the environment, microplate readers are used to test water and soil, in order to look for potential contaminations. If they do find any, the authorities can then put a plan in place, in order to clean it, so that nature is protected. It also serves to save human lives, as they could be placed in danger, if any products were to come from these polluted areas. With the current level of pollution caused by men, this is a very important aspect of protection brought through the use of microplate readers.
