(1275-D) dragonfly® discovery: Pioneering Sustainable Liquid Handling in the Modern Laboratory

Abstract: Automated liquid handling has proved to be an effective way for laboratories to meet the throughput demands of modern research by overcoming the limitations of manual pipetting. Amidst growing pressure to improve environmental sustainability, non-contact reagent dispensing has emerged as a transformative solution, substantially reducing plastic waste by substituting numerous pipette tip boxes with a single, versatile syringe for various experiments.

dragonfly® discovery is an innovative, low-volume reagent dispenser that is compatible with a wide range of applications across genomics, molecular biology, and drug discovery, and is well established for its speed and accuracy in assay development and high-throughput screening (HTS). Its core strength lies in its positive displacement technology, which ensures consistent performance across diverse liquid classes, ranging from volatile substances like ethanol to viscous materials such as glycerol, agar, and even cell or bead suspensions.

A notable feature of dragonfly discovery is that the same syringe can be used for a wide dispensing range (200 nL to 4 mL), which markedly decreases the need for multiple-sized pipette tips as is often required in air displacement pipetting. This feature not only conserves resources but also enhances workflow efficiency. Furthermore, dragonfly discovery syringes are packed in compact trays made from recycled material, significantly reducing the carbon footprint associated with the production, packaging and transportation of these components.

In this poster, we highlight the significant role that dragonfly discovery plays in reducing the environmental impact of liquid handling workflows. We present a case study where, in a 3456-run enzymatic assay operated by 6-factor space-filling Design of Experiment (DoE), dragonfly discovery demonstrates a reduction in plastic pipette tip usage by over 99% compared to traditional air displacement pipetting systems. Moreover, in Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) library preparation workflows, such as the NEBNext® Ultra™ II FS DNA Library prep kit, dragonfly discovery achieves a plastic reduction of over 50%.