Sequencing-gel autoreader

[patrick linder]

Autoreader for sequencing gels:
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I'm interested in the Autoreader for sequencing gels recently anounced
by Amersham. Therefore I would like to know if somebody has experience
with a similar machine and would I have the following questions:

i)      are other similar systems available? and what do they cost?

ii)     what about the software to read other gels than sequencing gels, i.e.
        two-dimensional protein gels?

iii)    How accurate are these machines? Can a machine read as much as an eye
        from a excellent gel? And from a bad gel?

iv)     Is the speed for reading and analysis of the sequence really as
        fast as 80 seconds and 10 to 12 minutes (respectively) for a 40 track
        gel.

v)      How easy are they to use?


I would greatly appreciate to here about such systems.

P. Linder
Dept. of Microbiology
Biozentrum
BASEL-Switzerland

linder at urz.unibas.ch
linder%urz.unibas.ch at relay.cs.net