EMD Millipore New SNAP i.d.® 2.0 System for Immunohistochemistry Minimizes Slide Handling

• Significantly reduces slide handling time and process variability
• Offers parallel processing of up to 24 slides at once, without the cost of automation
• Applies proven vacuum-driven technology to remove reagents from tissue sections, in seconds

November 3, 2014, Billerica, MA — EMD Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has introduced the SNAP i.d.® 2.0 Protein Detection System for Immunohistochemistry (IHC), which streamlines immunohistochemistry workflows and significantly decreases slide handling time. The system enables parallel processing of up to 24 tissue slides at a time, making it easier to apply consistent conditions and reduce potential process variability inherent in manual IHC methods.

The system’s intuitive format reduces slide handling and speeds wash steps during blocking, washing, antibody incubation and labeling. A controlled vacuum force removes solutions evenly from all slides at once, in seconds. This approach systemizes the handling of multiple slides, reducing slide-to-slide process variation without incurring the costs of automation. The protocol produces robust and consistent staining, without causing tissue degradation or the blotchy artifacts that sometimes plague autostainers. This system is compatible with standard IHC slides and protocols, as well as diverse tissue preparations, including formalin-fixed or fresh frozen samples.

The system’s vacuum-driven technology has already been proven to facilitate immunodetection workflows. The SNAP i.d.® 2.0 System for Western Blotting has long helped customers optimize their Western blotting experiments, reducing membrane handling and producing faster results. Using the new system, Western blots and IHC experiments can be performed in parallel.

“Immunodetection, which has multiple steps and many variables, can be subject to process variability, leading to costly repeats,” said Patrick Schneider, Ph.D., Head of Bioscience. “Because this vacuum-driven system minimizes slide handling, it saves researchers time and resources by reducing process variability and conserving valuable samples and reagents.”

To conserve precious antibodies, the SNAP i.d.® 2.0 system enables the manual addition, as well as the removal and recovery, of small volumes of antibodies. Recovered antibodies can be used multiple times, as application studies have already shown.

For more information, please visit www.emdmillipore.com/snap.

About EMD Millipore
EMD Millipore is the Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, offers a broad range of innovative, performance products, services and business relationships that enable our customers' success in research, development and production of biotech and pharmaceutical drug therapies. Through dedicated collaboration on new scientific and engineering insights, and as one of the top three R&D investors in the Life Science Tools industry, EMD Millipore serves as a strategic partner to customers and helps advance the promise of life science. Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, the division has around 10,000 employees, operations in 66 countries and 2013 revenues of €2.6 billion. 

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is a leading company for innovative and top-quality high-tech products in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. Its subsidiaries in Canada and the United States operate under the umbrella brand EMD Millipore. Around 39,000 employees work in 66 countries to improve the quality of life for patients, to further the success of customers and to help meet global challenges. The company generated total revenues of € 11.1 billion in 2013 with its four divisions: Biopharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Performance Materials and Life Science Tools. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company – since 1668, the name has stood for innovation, business success and responsible entrepreneurship. Holding an approximately 70 percent interest, the founding family remains the majority owner of the company to this day.