Molecular Devices Launches Automated System for Microbial Colony Picking
Molecular Devices has introduced the QPix FLEX Microbial Colony Picking System, a compact, automated platform for microbial colony screening. The system is designed to replace manual picking workflows with automated plating, streaking, colony picking, and hit picking, achieving over 95 percent efficiency and near-perfect accuracy. It supports applications in strain engineering, protein discovery, and microbiome research, particularly in labs with limited space or specialized conditions such as anaerobic chambers.
The QPix FLEX system integrates advanced multimodal imaging and ultrasonic agar sensing for phenotypic colony assessment, enabling high-precision selection based on morphology and color. Built-in sterility measures include UV decontamination, ultrasonic tip washing, and optional HEPA filtration, while a barcode-based tracking system ensures sample traceability throughout the workflow.
The system debuted at the Global Synthetic Biology Conference in San Jose and will be showcased at the SLAS Europe 2025 Conference in Hamburg. According to Molecular Devices, QPix FLEX is intended to address common bottlenecks in high-throughput screening and reduce contamination and data tracking errors during microbial colony isolation.
