The DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® microbial characterisation system is now available from Thermo Scientific in Europe and Australia and provides an automated genetic fingerprint (RiboPrint™ pattern) of any bacterium in less than 8 hours.

RiboPrint™ patterns let you characterise spoilage organisms, pathogens, beneficial organisms or any bacterium important to you. No specialist operator skills are required

With the RiboPrinter® system restriction enzyme flexibility, you can ribotype bacteria using either the pre-packaged restriction enzymes or one of your choice, while retaining the advantages of full automation.

The ever-expanding identification database now includes over 5700 patterns, covering more than 180 genera and 1200 species. This broad coverage extends to organisms of great importance to pharmaceutical, food safety and public health industries, and includes lactic acid bacteria.

The RiboPrinter® system Data sharing system allows authorised users to electronically share databases of bacterial strains allowing labs to quickly and easily compare, analyse and automatically store genetic "fingerprint" information.

Features of this networking system offer a wide range of data-pooling possibilities:

• Universities and hospitals can give many analysts access to data generated by one instrument.
  
• A central quality control laboratory can efficiently compile and analyse data from remote plants or labs.
  
• Regulatory agencies can collect and analyse data from numerous places to monitor the spread of bacteria.
  
• Data from various sites can be consolidated into larger, more refined groupings helping with analysis of information that has been collected over time and from different locations.
  
• Service labs can rapidly share data with authorized customers.
  

Additionally, information sharing is secure because only data with unique host-assigned tags can be copied. Transfers are automated and can be scheduled to run out-of-hours.

For more information please contact Laura Ward at Thermo Scientific, t: +44 (0) 1256 841144, f: +44 (0) 1256 329728, email: laura.ward@oxoid.com or visit the Thermo Scientific website: www.oxoid.com