Automation of<i>In situ</i>Hybridization: Application of the Capillary Action Robotic Workstation

Abstract

The Fisher Code-on™ Immunology System has been modified to allow complete automation of colorimetric In situ hybridization. The method, which capitalizes on the instrument's capillary gap action cycle of reagent handling, introduces a high temperature oven for simultaneous denaturation of tissue and probe DNA. Sixty different slides may be hybridized in one assay in fewer than six hours. The importance of the “endogenous positive control probe,” placental DNA, for optimizing the conditions of digestion is emphasized. This control probe shows that the instrument efficiently digests and evenly denatures each slide regardless of its position in the slide holder. (J Histotechnol 11:253, 1988).