Start Automating Your Crystallization Experiments
The Academic Research Package includes everything you need to begin automating your experiments. The package includes the Rock Maker® - Crystallization Software to manage all the data for your entire crystallization workflow, the NT8®- Drop Setter to set up your protein drops, variants of the Formulator® Screen Builder for protein crystallography, and variants of the Rock Imager® to image your experiments in both visible light and ultraviolet. This package is exclusively for academic researchers as a budget-conscious way to add the benefits of automation to their labs.
Essential Package
Advanced Package
Ultimate Package
Essential Package
Essential Package includes the Rock Imager 1 Single Light Path with a controlling computer, the NT8 Drop Setter base model with a controlling computer, and the Rock Maker Crystallization Software Enterprise academic seat. Additionally, the package features a barcode printer with labels and offers the option to add a Formulator 10 Screen Builder and a pump box for enhanced functionality.
Advanced Package
Advanced Package includes a Rock Imager 2 Dual Light Path with a controlling computer, an NT8 Drop Setter base model with plate copy and controlling computer, and the Rock Maker Crystallization Software Enterprise academic seat. Additionally, the package features a barcode printer and labels, with an option to add a Formulator 10 Screen Builder and Pump Box for enhanced functionality.
Ultimate Package
The Ultimate Package offers a comprehensive suite of products and services designed for advanced crystallography research. This includes the Rock Imager 360 Dual Light Path with 50 plates and a controlling computer, the NT8 Drop Setter base model with plate copy and controlling computer, and the Rock Maker Crystallization Software Enterprise academic seat. Additionally, the package comes with a barcode printer and labels. For added flexibility, there is an option to include the Formulator 16 Screen Builder and Pump Box, making it an all-inclusive solution for your crystallization needs.
Design and Manage Experiments with Ease
The ROCK MAKER - Crystallization Software allows you to screen your proteins against sparse screens. The Screen Experiment Wizard makes experiment design a breeze - creating multiple screen experiments for one or more proteins takes less than a minute. Keep all your protein crystallization data in one place and follow your experiment results throughout the entire process.
Powerful Experiment Design
- Easy-to-use interface
- Most commonly used screens come pre-loaded
- Unique barcodes allow you to track your experiments from dispensing to imaging and scoring
Automatically Score Your Drops with MARCO
One bottleneck to protein crystallography is manually scoring those protein drop images, which is often very time-consuming and tedious. With the advent of machine learning has come the ability to have a computer algorithm analyze and score protein drop images. One such technology is the Machine Recognition of Crystallization Outcomes or MARCO, which can score a 96 well- 1 drop plate in under 3 minutes, with an accuracy of ~94%. MARCO automatically provides a probability of a drop image being either a crystal, precipitate, clear, or other. MARCO is now integrated in Rock Maker and can automatically score your drops with just a few clicks.
One bottleneck to protein crystallography is manually scoring those protein drop images, which is often very time-consuming and tedious. With the advent of machine learning has come the ability to have a computer algorithm analyze and score protein drop images.
One such technology is the Machine Recognition of Crystallization Outcomes or MARCO, which can score a 96 well- 1 drop plate in under 3 minutes, with an accuracy of ~94%. MARCO automatically provides a probability of a drop image being either a crystal, precipitate, clear, or other.
MARCO is now integrated in Rock Maker and can automatically score your drops with just a few clicks.
Reliable + Reproducible Protein Drop Setting
The NT8 - Drop Setter is a fast, nanoliter-volume liquid handler with drop dispensing capability for protein crystallization. The 8-tip head aspirates and dispenses drops from 10 nL to 1.5 μL. Reusable tips give you the option to dispose of tips after each dispense or reuse them to reduce costs and waste. Proportionally-Controlled Active Humidification minimizes sample evaporation and increases experiment reproducibility.
Dispense Drops for a Variety of Crystallization Experiments
- Hanging + Sitting Drop Experiments
- Lipidic Cubic Phase (LCP) Experiments
- Additive/Seeding Experiments
- Microbatch Experiments and more
Learn More About Your Protein Drops with Crystal Clear Imaging
Rock Imager is the most trusted imager for protein crystallography and is used by the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and many renowned academic centers worldwide.
The Academic Research Package includes variants of Rock Imager - an automated imaging system. The Rock Imager was designed specifically for protein crystallization and supports virtually every microplate format. This easy-to-use solution captures superior-quality images in a compact benchtop unit.
The system images protein drops in both visible light and ultraviolet allowing researchers to discover conditions that grow crystals and determine if those are crystals are protein or not.
All Rock Imagers seamlessly integrate with the Rock Maker Crystallization Software keeping all your drop images and experiment data in one spot.
Dynamic and Efficient Image Viewing + Scoring
All the images taken by Rock Imager are collected by Rock Maker, wherein you can compare images and assign scores. Once you’ve found a crystal, you can measure its size and add notes directly to the image itself. Bring out details of your visible light and UV images using the leveling histogram or optically zoom in with a Region of Interest (ROI).
View + Score Images with Ease:
- Navigate through and score your images using your keyboard and customizable scoring schemas
- View up to four drops simultaneously or compare different inspections of the same drop
- View images with multiple modes including slideshow & full-screen
Analyze Your Data to Improve Future Experiment Design
Carry out an in-depth analysis of your results quickly using the powerful Search & Filter feature of Rock Maker. Based on previously performed experiments and user-defined criteria, you can make informed predictions about the most favorable conditions for crystallizing your protein of interest.
Built-In Data Analysis + Reporting Tools
- Use Search and Filter to mine your data to uncover trends based on a variety of parameters, helping you to continue your research efforts and focus in on conditions likely to grow bigger and better crystals
- Create and manipulate charts to visualize your experiment results
- Print various experiment reports for your lab notebooks
Zero in on the Optimal Crystallization Conditions
Got a hit? You can perform a quick multidimensional optimization of various conditions, varying concentrations and pHs of the ingredients along rows, columns, and/or quadrants within a plate. Rock Maker helps you effortlessly find the ideal conditions for crystal growth.
Build Crystallization Screens with Ease
Flexible Liquid Dispensing
- Low volumes, down to 200 nL with no upper limit
- Dispense a 100 μL, 3-ingredient, 96-well crystallization grid in 2.7 mins
- Supports all microplate types, even VDX/Linbro plates
Easy Operation
- Integrated barcode scanner automatically loads experiment and ingredient data
- Bottle sensors know where ingredients are located
- Design, Barcode, Scan, and Run
- The only screen builder integrated with Rock Maker® - Crystallization Software
| Essential Package | Advance Package | Ultimate Package | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Imager 1 (Single Light Path) | |||
| Rock Imager 2 (Dual Light Path) | |||
| Rock Imager 360 (Dual Light Path) with 50 plates | |||
| Rock Maker Enterprise Academic Seat | |||
| Controlling Computer | |||
| NT8 Drop Setter Base Model | |||
| Plate Copy | |||
| Barcode Printer and Labels | |||
| Formulator 10 & Pump box (Optional) | |||
| Formulator 16 & Pump box (Optional) |