Rare DNA Samples Saved at UNLV’s Biotechnology Center Through Power Outage With Franek Technologies’ Protection
TUSTIN, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — March 19, 2007 — The recent 36-minute power outage could have been devastating for the $3.7M UNLV Biotechnology Center at the Shadow Lane Campus in Las Vegas, NV. While some of the Center’s critical computer systems fried, its $300,000 investment in Applied Biosystems (ABI) genetic analysis and DNA amplification instrumentation ran smoothly and completed all test runs containing rare DNA samples. Without the instrumentation-grade power protection systems provided by Franek Technologies, the leader in certified Category III-3 Laboratory Battery Backup Power Protection Systems (LPS/UPS), the Center would have been brought to a sudden halt resulting in not only significant financial loss, but more importantly, the destruction of irreplaceable DNA samples.
At the time of the outage, the Center was running a real-time PCR run, a quantifier run on an ABI 7000, and capillary electrophoresis separation and analysis on ABI’s 3100 Avant. The results of these tests were critical for a confidential case on which the Center was conducting mitochondrial DNA analysis, as well as its own training programs. Loss of these test samples would have delayed results by weeks, even months, making it impossible to meet its research deadlines.
But none of these dire consequences happened thanks to a change in the way many laboratories now prepare in advance for such contingencies. Whether it is a forensic science laboratory, like the UNLV Biotechnology Center, or a laboratory that processes samples to identify what pathogen may be threatening public health, there is a way to preserve samples and the results of highly-sensitive tests halted in mid-process by power glitches and outages.
Four years ago, when Dr. Walter Goldstein, coordinator of the UNLV Biotechnology Center, laid the foundation for his forensics laboratory, he realized that the standard surge protector used for a computer might stop a quick power spike but it wasn’t going to do anything to protect the Center’s critical test results from being ruined. Those results could have profound effects on people’s lives. His concerns were compounded by the risk posed to the Center’s $300,000 investment in instrumentation that could be irreparably damaged by sudden power loss while in the midst of operation.
Dr. Goldstein contacted the manufacturer of the instruments, Applied Biosystems, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (laboratory project consultants), and the building engineers for a solution. The unanimous recommendation was to contact Franek Technologies for a certified laboratory power-protection system (LPS) for forensic DNA analysis instrument and lab protection. Less than 30 days from the initial inquiry, through the placement of an order, and production of the LPS units, the solution arrived at his laboratory, pre-configured for his instrumentation, in the form of five (5) Franek Technologies, Inc. LPS power protection systems.
From acclaimed CSI laboratories, to hospital and research laboratories, to field units in Baghdad, Iraq, Franek Technologies is providing a unique and essential solution to keep very expensive, highly sensitive laboratories operational without loss of investment and without corruption and subsequent loss of valid results. The company’s certified power protection systems allow tests being run to be completed and fragile instruments to be protected, saving weeks and sometimes months of downtime, while saving the laboratories from suffering severe financial losses.
“The level of power protection offered by Franek Technologies is unmatched,” Goldstein explains. “Any lab running sensitive instrumentation needs to understand that this level of protection is not a luxury, it’s a requirement to ensure the viability of research conducted. To rely on standard surge protectors shows poor judgment and, in my opinion, is just plain foolish.”
Franek Technologies, Inc. specializes in providing Laboratory Productivity/Protection Systems (LPS/UPS) for analytical, diagnostics, forensic, life-science, pharmaceutical and biotechnology instrumentation systems applications. Its certified uninterruptible battery backup power sources for laboratory and instrumentation applications protect over $3 billion in laboratory assets worldwide. The company’s power engineers have developed LPS/UPS products for over 1,500 instrumentation applications, from more than 100 manufacturers, to meet US Government power requirements. For more information, call (800) 326-6480 or visit www.franek.com.
