Fluid Imaging Technologies Supports Biofuel, Nutraceutical Research Worldwide

Yarmouth, ME, USA: Laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies, Yarmouth, Maine (www.fluidimaging.com) has launched a scholarship program offering students up to US $1,000.00 per year for up to four consecutive years. To be awarded annually to high school, college, graduate or post-graduate level students studying algae technology, the FlowCAM® Collaboration Scholarship Program was devised to facilitate phycological research for advancing knowledge of algal cells including their use as a feedstock in the production of biofuels and as an ingredient in functional foods, beverages and nutraceuticals.

Open to students attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Arizona State University, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, University of California San Diego, Aberystwyth University, UK and Tel Aviv University, Israel, among nearly 50 other educational institutions worldwide, the scholarship helps students gain experience using the same FlowCAM imaging particle analysis technology in use at hundreds of research facilities on six continents. The scholarships may be awarded for the 2012/2013 academic year by partner institutions ordering one or more FlowCAM systems by August 30, 2012. Students may apply through their academic institutions. A complete list of institutions offering approved algae courses of study is online at FluidImaging.com.

The FlowCAM particle imaging and analysis instrumentation automatically takes high resolution, digital images of individual particles and microorganisms, measures and characterizes each one based on up to 32 different parameters and saves them for analysis. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), San Diego, Calif., Santa Fe Community College, N.M., BioMarine Fuels, Inc., Gulf Breeze, Fla., and Sapphire Energy, San Diego, Calif. and Las Cruces, N.M. are among the organizations using the FlowCAM to study algae.

Yarmouth, ME Fluid Imaging Technologies, Inc. of Yarmouth, Maine, USA, manufacturer of the FlowCAM® dynamic imaging particle analyzer, today announced that a preliminary study yielded positive results for the instrument’s fluorescence capabilities when using Sytox Green® nucleic acid stain to indicate whether algal cells are live or dead. The application is significant for the algae-to-biofuel industry where commercial production of algae requires reliable methods for monitoring the growth and health of algal cultures.

Sytox Green, manufactured by Invitrogen of Carlsbad, California, is a high-affinity nucleic acid stain that easily penetrates dead cells, but will not cross the membranes of live cells. This characteristic of the stain has proven it to suitable for use with the FlowCAM which captures fluorescence signals from dead algal cells once the Sytox Green has been absorbed, and then images, counts and analyzes data on each cell with its sophisticated VisualSpreadsheet® software.

In an experiment using Sytox Green and the algae Nannochloropsis, the FlowCAM picked up the fluorescence emitted by live algal cells on one of its fluorescence Channels and the Sytox Green induced fluorescence from dead cells on another fluorescence channel. The experiment produced encouraging data for the technicians conducting the study, further adding to the value of FlowCAM’s fluorescence-detecting capabilities.

Victoria Kurtz of Fluid Imaging Technologies said, “After working with the FlowCAM® for the last two years in the algae biofuels industry, I am excited to report that our instrument is capable of determining live versus dead cells when using Sytox Green.”

Fluid Imaging Technologies, Inc. manufactures the FlowCAM particle analysis instrumentation for rapid characterization, imaging and monitoring of particles and cells in fluids. The instrument is used in a variety of aquatic and industrial applications worldwide.

For more information on FlowCAM®, contact Lew Brown, Fluid Imaging Technologies, Inc.; 65 Forest Falls Drive, Yarmouth, ME 04096; Phone: 207.846.6100; Fax: 207.846.6110 www.fluidimaging.com.