How a Colony Picker Works & How We Save You Time & Money

The Benefits of Excedr’s Colony Picker Leasing Program:

• Eliminates the upfront cost of purchasing equipment by spreading its cost over time
• Minimizes equipment downtime with included complete repair coverage and preventive maintenance
• Takes advantage of potentially 100% tax deductible* payments, providing you significant cash-savings
• Expedites the administrative work needed for instrument procurement and logistics
• Conserves working capital,  enabling you to reinvest in your core business and operations (staffing, inventory, marketing/sales, etc.)
• Accommodates all manufacturer and model preferences

*Please consult your tax advisor to determine the full tax implications of leasing equipment.

Colony picking is the process of selecting individual colonies of pure, single-strain microbes from a solid media plate—such as agar plate, slide, mini gel, or petri dish—and duplicating them for further use.

Isolating microbial colonies in this stage is vital in various downstream processes, including mass spectrometry, protein purification, and PCR. Food testing, biofuels, genome editing, microbiology, synthetic biology, and immunotherapy are just a few areas that benefit from colony picking.

Colony picking is performed using a colony picker, also referred to as a colony arrayer or colony picking system, as well as a microbial colony pickers or pin colony picker depending on the manufacturer. Some of the most popular manufacturers include:

• Hudson Robotics
• Molecular Devices
• Tecan

Furthermore, automating the colony picking process has helped scientists in the life sciences industry further their work in duplicating microbes. Hand-picking bacterial or fungal colonies used to take hours, and for tasks as complex as sequencing the human genome, this was prohibitively tedious. 

In addition to the massive amount of time it would take to complete, the high probability of human error often made the work useless. Luckily, colony picking has become fully automated and is optimized for both speed and accuracy. 

Many automated devices rely on a multi-pin picking unit, robotic arm, multiple microplate stacks, a media dispenser, adhesive plate sealer, and standalone enclosure. This transition from using a single pin to a picking head equipped with multiple independently controlled pins has greatly sped up the duplication process.

Many devices are designed to pick from SBS-compatible omni-trays, segmented colony plates, 24-well, 96-well and 384-well plates, as well as petri dishes. The device is also capable of inoculating many of these trays and plates, from omni-trays to 24-, 96-, and 384-well plates of various heights, saving even more time.

Additionally, image processing is now performed using software. A picker will accurately identify the necessary colonies that are to be copied and transfers part of the organism to a separate medium to grow. Today, high-resolution image analysis plays a large role in automated colony picking.

Ultimately, this top-to-bottom automation has allowed scientists to go from reproducing a few hundred bacteria or fungi in a day to hundreds of thousands in a day.

These devices are used for a wide variety of applications across multiple fields of study, some of which we will cover below.

A vital piece of equipment, one should not have to debate whether they can or cannot afford to go without a microbial colony picker. Our leases reduce the upfront costs of purchasing colony picking systems, making this debate a non-issue.

Additionally, regardless of whether you’re looking to lease a QPix® 400 Series from Molecular Devices or a RapidPick™ Colony Picking System from Hudson Robotics, we can help. Our leasing program is brand-agnostic and can accommodate any brand preference.

Furthermore, you can complete your workflow with the addition of automated liquid handling technology offered through Excedr. Fill out our contact form or give us a call at +1 888-927-3802 so that we may discuss your leasing options in further detail.

Operating Lease

This off-balance sheet financing structure provides three options at the end of the term. The lessee has the option to return the equipment to the lessor, renew at a discounted rate, or purchase the instrument for the fair market value. Monthly payments are also 100% tax deductible which yields additional monetary savings.

Sale-Leaseback

If you recently bought equipment, Excedr can offer you cash for your device and convert your purchase into a long-term rental. This is called a sale-leaseback. If you’ve paid for equipment within the last ninety days, we can help you recoup your investment and allow you to make low monthly payments. This also frees up money in your budget rather than tying it down to a fixed asset.