Almost all the PCRs are set up robotically in 384 well microtitre plates. The completed PCRs are either typed by melting curve analysis, or by electrophoresis on robotically-loaded pre-cast gels of our own design (see ‘How do you type a marker’ for more details)

Total throughput is about 100 markers per day using gel-typing, or 200 markers (19,200 PCRs) using melting-curve analysis.

All this is made possible by a fast, flexible robotic system, affectionately known as the Beast. The Beast is a multi-tool general-purpose robot, developed at LMB and built by our own mechanical and electronic workshops.

Further automation is being developed, including the use of microarray-based marker typing.