BIO RAD Helios Gene Gun System, Instruction Manual

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Section 5 Operation of the Helios Gene Gun System
Helios Gene Gun System | 25
15. Turn the motor on the Tubing Prep Station to OFF (O). Turn the nitrogen off by closing the valve on the
flowmeter. Remove the tubing from the tubing support cylinder.
Preparing 0.5" Cartridges Using the Tubing Cutter
This procedure requires only a few minutes and should be performed as soon after loading the DNA/
microparticle suspension into the tubing as possible. It is important to store the coated tubes in a
desiccated environment. Tubes stored at 4
°
C are stable for at least 8 months.
Materials
■
Supplied
Tubing Cutter
Razor blade
Cartridge storage vial
Desiccant pellets
■
To Be Supplied by User
Gold-Coat tubing coated with microcarriers from Preparation of System Components Prior to
Bombardment, in Section 5
Scissors
Marking pen
Procedure
1. Examine the coated the GoldCoat Tubing to verify that the microcarriers are evenly distributed over the
length of the tubing. Ideally, the gold should be spread uniformly over the entire inside surface of the
tubing; however, while drying, it may polarize to one side of the tubing. As long as there are no clumps
or bare sections, the tubing can be used for cartridges.
2. Using scissors, cut off and discard sparsely and unevenly coated tubing from one of the ends. With a
marking pen mark any sections of tubing to be discarded. This is usually limited to the outer 1–2" where
the gold has settled, but may also include internal sections of tubing which are un unevenly coated with
gold.
3. Use the Tubing Cutter to cut the remaining tubing into 0.5" pieces as follows:
a. Place a cartridge storage vial containing a desiccant pellet inside the base of the Tubing Cutter.
b. Insert the cut ends of one or two pieces of tubing into the tubing channels on the front face of the
Tubing Cutter (Figure 7); be sure to push them in until they make contact with the rear plate.
c. Push down sharply on the handle; the tubes will drop into the storage vial.
d. Repeat the process of inserting the uncut tubing and cutting the cartridges until the entire length of
usable tubing is cut.
4. Cap the vial tightly, label, wrap with Parafilm, and store at 4 ° C.