Top 3 Challenges in the Protein Science Lab in 2012 - Are you Prepared?

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 Protein science is accelerating in many dimensions—more methods, more data, and more pressure to produce than ever before. Indeed, the proteomics field has nearly doubled in the last five years¹ and it’s poised to grow even more rapidly this year. There are so many new and fascinating experiments that can be done with proteins, SPR detecting small molecule binding to proteins, antibodies, X-ray crystallography, protein arrays — it is difficult to keep up with the opportunities. Modern protein research relies on the availability of protein samples, and preparing sufficient amounts of such protein samples at high quality has become very challenging. At Emerald Bio, we’ve identified three key challenges:

1. Targets are becoming more difficult

   The easy protein targets—the 'low hanging fruit'— have been harvested. Standard purification recipes are not working any more and new protein target classes are much more difficult to handle in the wet lab. We’re now working with protein–protein and protein–DNA complexes, membrane proteins, antibodies, allosterically regulated enzymes in different activation states. We need to adjust our purification approach to such difficult targets, scout purification protocols within a pilot experiment to obtain optimized loading, wash and elution conditions, in order to yield active protein samples and protocols allowing rapid scale-up.

2. Need to process more targets

   The spectacular success of genome sequencing has unveiled an abundance of protein targets that are potentially relevant to one's research. At the same time, progress in molecular biology has made it very simple to create myriads of variants of a particular protein to expression test and purify. Testing different epitope tags, N– and C–terminal truncations, exploring domain boundaries, and surface mutants offer countless ways to tailor your protein target. Do you have the tools to process such a large number of samples?

3. Fewer resources in the lab

   Fewer resources in the lab is a trend that will be affecting many protein research projects. And competing sophisticated experiments are receiving more of the limelight as compared to the indispensable but necessary protein sample preparation activities. How do you assure protein samples are prepared while using less hands-on time?

This year all of these trends may combine into a perfect storm in your own lab. Let laboratory robots do the grunt work for you: Emerald Bio creates instruments and applications that help you leverage these trends and come out ahead. Adjust to difficult targets by scouting purification conditions. Process more protein and antibody targets by parallel chromatographic purification. Emerald Bio’s Protein Maker addresses the top challenges facing protein researchers in 2012. Our custom consumables line saves you time. To learn more, email us today.

¹ “Proteomics – A Global Strategic Business Report” Global Industry Analysts, Inc. p91. September 2010.