A larger volume (1 ul to 2 ul) of liquid is also transported on the sides of the pins, however this liquid is only transferred if the pins are submerged in another liquid.  The volume of liquid transported on the sides of the pin is also dependent upon the depth to which the pin is wetted.  This method greatly simplifies making one or a hundred copies and it is very rapid.  The Replicator pins are made from durable stainless steel and are quickly sterilized by alcohol/flame or bleach procedure for rapid turn around between master plates.

The photo on the right illustrates the various solid pins we offer and the volume of their hanging drops.  You can find out more about these and other pins we make on the Pin Tool page. 

Click here for a list of published articles that cite the products on this page.

• cDNA
• DNA
• RNA

• Antibiotics
• Antibodies
• Antigens

• Drugs
• Ligands
• PCR Products
• Receptors

A unique feature of these Replicators is the presence of two guide pins that are used to index the Replicators to registration accessories (patent pending).  These guide pins fit into alignment holes in the LIBRARY COPIER™  to align the Replicator pins to microplate wells.  The guide pins also fit into alignment holes in the COLONY COPIER™ to align the Replicator pins to agar surfaces or membranes in Nunc Omni Trays.  The arrangement of alignment holes facilitates the construction of high density (1536 blots) offset arrays or grids.  The guide pins also fit into alignment holes in the MULTI-PRINT™ to align the Replicator pins to large membranes.  The arrangement of alignment holes facilitates the construction of high density arrays on grids on large membranes.

We also have developed two new alignment/registration systems for making blots on membranes. The Vicki Registration System is used to make 4 identical ultra high density arrays (3456 blots in a 3 x 3 array from a 384 pin Replicator).  The Vicki Registration System transfers a hanging drop of only 20 nl thus enabling ultra high density arrays.  The Fu-meei Registration System is used to "Xerox" large volume blots (0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 ul) on small (10 cm x 12 cm) membranes.

To transfer larger volumes (0.5 , 1.0 or 2 ul) in 384 formats see our Slot Pin Replicator page.

The ability to easily create high density colony arrays on agar or dot blots and expression arrays on membranes simplifies large screening or replicating projects and results in significant savings in assay reagents, disposable plasticware, membranes and pipette tips.  Previously, only laboratories with a $50,000 robotics work station could take advantage of the high throughput of high density arrays. Now even small labs can.

Even labs with robotic work stations use our hand held system because it is so affordable and faster to use for most applications:

• Use it when you need data immediately and the robot is tied up with a big project

• Use it for those projects that are so small it doesn't pay to prepare the robot

• Use it to develop pilot assay procedures for robotic assays

• Now every technician has the power of a workstation in the palm of their hand

All of the above pins can also be obtained with a hydrophobic/lipophobic coating.  Just adding an H to the above pin designates that pin as a hydrophobic/lipophobic coated pin.  This coating is metallic and only a few angstroms thick so it does not effect the basic dimensions of the pins.  These coated pins are very useful in handling solutions with proteins or lipids that may stick to naked stainless steel.  Click here for more details on the nature of our hydrophobic/ lipophobic coating and the coating process.

If you are transferring DNA, cDNA or other materials in high surface tension solutions you will find that using our new V&P Pin Cleaning Solution will greatly increase the precision of delivery.  For an explanation see the FAQ page and the V&P Pin Cleaning Solution page.

Please visit this hyperlink for Pin Tool Data And Charts.

These Replicators with their 45 mm long pins will reach the bottom of all the 384 deep well blocks on the market including the Whatman Uniplate 400.   With many companies using the 384 deep well blocks as storage modules here is a simple way to both mix and remove samples from these wells. 

See our slot pin page for more about these unique replicators and our VP 381A registration accessory used to align the pins in the proper wells.

If you are transferring DNA, cDNA or other materials in high surface tension solutions you will find that using our new V&P Pin Cleaning Solution will greatly increase the precision of delivery.  For an explanation see the FAQ page and the V&P Pin Cleaning Solution page.

Click here for a list of published articles that cite the products on this page.

The most important aspect of using pin tools is to start with clean pins and then keep them clean so they will consistently deliver the same volume.  We recommend our Pin Cleaning Solution (VP 110) to clean the pin of protein and other residue buildup before you start an assay.  To quickly and efficiently remove the previous transfer from the pin we have a wide variety of manual and robot wash reservoirs ranging from disposable polypropylene reservoirs (VP 576D) to reusable wash reservoirs, flowing reservoirs and fountains to clean  96, 384 and 1536 pin tools.  The robot wash stations are also adapted so the blotting station is part of the washing station thus reducing the cleaning cycle time and the number of robot stations required for the cleaning process.  We also have other independent blotting stations (VP 540D) and VP 522.

Integral to the cleaning process of all pins is the blotting step between baths.  Lint particles in the slots or on pin tips, from standard paper towels, will interfere with the loading and unloading of liquid.  We have solved this problem.  The VP 540DB blotting system is a tray with the standard microplate foot print that contains a super absorbent polypropylene pad covered by a Lint Free Blotting Paper.  We strongly recommend that you use this or our other lint free blotting systems.

Please visit this hyperlink for Pin Tool Data And Charts.

We suggest you buy a few inexpensive accessories that will make the Replicators more useful, easier, safer and more reproducible. 

The VP 381 is a Registration Device that aligns the Replicator pins to the center of the wells.  This is very important as you do not want the pins to touch the side of wells as you remove the pins because that will knock off the hanging drop at the pin tip.  The VP 381 LIBRARY COPIER™ is also used with our 96 pin Replicators to re-array from four, 96 well plates to one, 384 well plate or vice versa, to break out samples from one, 384 well plate to four, 96 well plates.

The VP 382 MULTI-PRINT™ is a registration device that allows you to make membrane arrays in an area the size of a standard microtiter plate with our Replicators.  Either four, 384 well plates or nine, 96 well plates can be arrayed into a 1536 or 864 array on the membrane.

After arraying from four, 384 well plates to one, 1536 membrane array (or nine, 96 well plates to one, 864 membrane array), the VP 430 Reading Mat helps locate which mother plate well produced a positive spot on the membrane array.

The VP 420 is a Glass Alcohol Reservoir that is used in the sterilization of the Replicators by flaming.  Some labs use plastic reservoirs, but if flaming alcohol drops into them the plastic burns, dumping flaming alcohol all over the counter.  This covered dish is also useful for storing the alcohol as well as VP 110 Pin Cleaning Solution (below) for reuse.  

The VP 425 is a Pin Cleaning Brush that is used to keep the Replicator pins clean so they will carry the same amount of liquid each time.   

Our VP 110 is a Pin Cleaning Solution that is used to clean and treat the pin tips when they can't be flamed.  

Integral to the cleaning process of all pins is the blotting step between baths.  Lint particles in the slots or pin tips, from blotting onto standard paper towels, will interfere with the loading and unloading of liquid.  The VP 522 is a Lint Free Blotting Paper that doesn't transfer lint particles to the pins as many blotting papers or paper towels can do.  We strongly recommend that you use these blotting pads placed over several layers of paper towels. 

These accessories are also found in the Basic Membrane Array Starter Kit VP OK14 at a 5% discount.