KingFisher Sample Purification Instruments for Bioprocessing

• Consistent—The innovative instrument design that moves magnetic beads instead of liquids supports clean extractions, facilitating the reproducibility of results
• Automate—Designed to save valuable time by helping to eliminate manual steps, minimize user process errors, and shorten overall processing times
• Convenient—Easy to set up and run, customizable to fit your lab’s needs
• Versatile—Supports more applications than most sample preparation instruments
• Supported—Backed by one of the industry’s largest networks of specialists dedicated to supporting these instruments

KingFisher Systems are a strong fit for labs that need scalable, plate-based automation for PrepSEQ workflows.

• Residual host-cell DNA sample preparation
• PrepSEQ residual DNA workflows
• PrepSEQ nucleic acid sample preparation workflows
• 24- or 96-well plate-based processing
• Medium- to high-throughput sample preparation
• Labs scaling from manual sample prep to automation

KingFisher systems use magnetic bead-based processing to automate sample preparation steps. Rather than moving liquids through a fixed extraction path, KingFisher instruments move magnetic particles through workflow steps such as binding, washing, and elution. This approach supports automated nucleic acid purification from complex bioprocessing samples and can help labs improve consistency while reducing hands-on time.

The KingFisher instruments, in combination with sample preparation and quantitation kits, offer turnkey solutions that address critical customer needs for sensitivity, reliability, dynamic range, and automation in the screening of biologic drugs throughout the manufacturing process.
 

In conjunction with PrepSEQ Residual DNA Sample Preparation Kits, the KingFisher instruments enable efficient extraction and excellent purification of DNA and RNA from complex mixtures of proteins, buffers, and salts. The special formulation of the magnetic particles provided in the PrepSEQ kit facilitates highly efficient, specific recovery of DNA with no cross-reactivity to unrelated DNA.

Manual sample preparation and sample loss can introduce inconsistencies into samples, which show up in your data as outliers and wider error bars. High-end downstream applications such as qPCR, NGS, digital PCR, and mass spectrometry can be very sensitive to these inconsistencies. KingFisher instruments help reduce user processing errors while increasing the reproducibility of your results. Our data shows that samples processed with KingFisher instruments have consistent results across different runs and different users.

Many automated liquid handling systems and purification instruments move reagents into and out of wells to perform the different steps of nucleic acid isolation. In contrast, Thermo Scientifc KingFisher Sample Purification Systems use permanent magnetic rods with disposable tip combs to collect beads from solution, then release them into successive wells, each containing reagents for the next step of isolation. This highly effective method of bead collection and transfer is designed for clean extractions, efficient results, and preservation of sample. Using a simple process (bind, wash, elute), KingFisher instruments can automate the extraction of any analyte of interest that can be bound to a bead, even from challenging samples.

Moving beads instead of liquids results in higher purity because little to no non-target organic matter or contaminants from liquid reagents are transferred from well to well. This design aims to minimize sample loss and increase yield since you can optimize your protocol so that the loss of beads with their target nucleic acids attached is minimal in solution.

The KingFisher Systems offer:

• Automated sample prep processing
• Up to 96 extractions in a single run
• Minimal error with less hands-on time
• Consistent and reliable data, day-to-day, month-to-month
• Optimized protocols for Applied Biosystems PrepSEQ kits and resDNASEQ kits

The main differences are throughput, the number of samples per run, and the way the models handle the plates and process.

• KingFisher Flex System (medium/high throughput)—The standalone laboratory workhorse, processes up to 96 samples per run
• KingFisher Apex System—Similar specifications to the KingFisher Flex instrument, but redesigned with additional capabilities for peak performance, adaptability, and usability such as a barcode scanner, a cooling block, and a UV decontamination lamp

Ensuring the safety of biologic drugs requires rapid and accurate screening methods for in-process testing during manufacturing. Automated high-throughput approaches offer the advantage of processing many samples quickly and reliably. The use of functionalized magnetic beads to capture and purify analytes of interest allows for sensitive and selective detection of target compounds. This technology has been incorporated into industry-standard PrepSEQ and resDNASEQ kits and is easily adaptable to a 96-well plate format. For automated sample analysis, the KingFisher Sample Purification Instruments offer a platform fully integrated with real-time PCR to quantify a broad spectrum of bioprocessing impurities and contaminants using these specialized sample preparation and quantitation kits.