Bio-Rad Molecular Imager® GelDoc™ XR FireWire System

Sole Source Specification

The Molecular Imager GelDoc XR System is manufactured solely by Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. It is the most
advanced gel documentation system in Bio-Rad's gel documentation line. The system has the flexibility to image
fluorescent and colorimetric samples. The system includes a high-resolution 12-bit CCD camera, a light-tight
compact darkroom, a slide-out transilluminator with preparative mode for added safety when manually
visualizing samples, a software-driven motorized lens for ease-of-use, and powerful, user-friendly Quantity
One® software. Unlimited copies of Quantity One Basic, available with each system, allow free functionality for
sharing, analysis, and presentation of gel data.
The GelDoc XR can be used for imaging a wide variety of applications (western blotting, nucleic acid detection,
2-D gel electrophoresis, dot blotting, densitometry, and colony counting) using a large portfolio of detection
methods (colorimetric blot detection, Ethidium Bromide, SYBR Green I, SYPRO Ruby, Flamingo, Cy3,
rhodamine, Green Fluorescent Protein, Hoechst, silver stain, copper stain, and Coomassie Brilliant Blue).

The features below and their benefits together combine to make the GelDoc XR a unique offering to
researchers.

1. High Resolution CCD Firewire camera

Feature Benefit
♦ 12-bit Data Acquisition ♦ Quantitative, greater than 3.0 orders of linear dynamic
range, for all samples
2. 1.3 megapixel camera
Feature Benefit
♦ 1360x1024 (1.39MP) CCD array ♦ 1360 x 1024 pixels for high resolution imaging
♦ 4.6x4.6µ pixel size ♦ For resolving closely spaced bands

3. Motorized Zoom Lens

Feature Benefit
♦ C-mount f/1.0; 8-48mm zoom lens ♦ Allows variable spatial resolution while supporting high
collection efficiency required for faint samples

4. Large Sample Platen Benefit

♦ UV illumination imaging area is 26 x 25cm. ♦ Enables imaging of an array of sample sizes

5. Universal Hood II
Feature Benefit
♦ Light tight darkroom chamber with light ♦ Minimizes background noise from ambient light
baffling. ♦ Optimizes photon collection from samples
♦ Single point control of light sources. ♦ Easy user control of UV and White light sources though
touch pad.
♦ Touch pad controls for iris, zoom, and focus of ♦ Allows users to control lights at the darkroom when
the lens loading and/or viewing samples
♦ Enables control of image settings at the darkroom
6. UV Transillumination
Feature Benefit
1. 302nm UV-B ♦ Broad range UV illumination with a peak at 302nm.
Compatible with a wide range of applications including
ethidium bromide, SYBR green, SYBR gold, SYPRO
orange, Fluorescein, Radiant Red, Texas Red, SYPRO
Red, GelStar, CY3, Rhodamine, Hoechst, Coumarin,
and GFP.
2. 254nm UV-C (optional) ♦ Broad range UV illumination with a peak at 254nm.
Compatible with SYBR green and SYBR gold imaging.
3. 365nm UV-A (optional) ♦ Broad range UV illumination with a peak at 365nm.
Compatible with carbohydrate gel imaging, GFP, SYBR
green, Hoechst, Coumarin or to visualize DNA with
minimal nicking.

7. Filter Slider
Feature Benefit
♦ 3-Position Filter Slider ♦ This mechanism supports the simple conversion from
fluorescence/colorimetric (with filter) to other
fluorophores (optional filters). The new slider
accommodates two emission filters for laboratories that
frequently use different stains. The slider clearly
indicates instrument set up and should prevent users
from accidentally collecting images with the filter in the
optical path, which would greatly reduce detection
sensitivity. The slider accommodates the 62mm amber
filter and optional emission filters.
8. Filters
Feature Benefit
♦ Amber ♦ Standard filter supplied with system. Broad range band pass
filter with a spectral range of 548-630nm. Can be used for SYBR
Green/GFP/SYBR Gold/Fluorescein/ CY3/Rhodamine/ SYPRO
Ruby/Texas Red, Hoechst/Coumarin.
♦ 520DF30nm (optional) ♦ Optimal filter for SYBR Green/GFP/SYBR Gold/Fluorescein
imaging.
♦ 560DF50nm (optional) ♦ Optimal filter for CY3/Rhodamine imaging
♦ 630BP30nm (optional) ♦ Optimal filter for SYPRO Ruby/Texas Red imaging
♦ 480BP70nm (optional) ♦ Optimal filter for Hoechst/Coumarin imaging

9. User, system, and sample safety features

Feature
♦ UV Safety Interlock on the main door and
transilluminator drawer
♦ UV and White Lamp Auto Shut-off
♦ Acrylic UV Shield
♦ Analytical & Preparative UV Mode
Benefit
♦ Protects users from UV exposure by shutting off UV
light source during opening of the main door or pull out
drawer
♦ To preserve lamp life, system automatically shuts off
UV and white light lamps after approximately 5
minutes.
♦ Fits on and angles over the transilluminator to protect
users when visualizing samples on the transilluminator
(additional protective gear such as goggles/mask and
glove are recommended)
♦ Preparative mode reduces the light intensity of the
lamps to reduce UV exposure when manipulating a
sample (isolating bands from a gel) and to reduce
crosslinking of samples

10. Quantity One® 1-D Analysis and Acquisition

Software
Feature Benefit
♦ Unlimited copies of Quantity One Basic ♦ Provided in addition to the full license copy provided with each
instrument. Users can now take advantage of a number of
useful analysis features without the need to purchase additional
licenses (See Bulletin 2908)
♦ Quantity One Analysis Software
♦ Multi-Channel Viewer
♦ 3-D Viewer
♦ Quick guides for Printing, Volume, Band, Colony
Counting, Differential Display, Phylogenetic
Tree, and VNTR Analyses
♦ Band, Lane, Matching, Image, Phylogenetic,
Similarity Matrix, and VNTR Reports
♦ Archiving of Band Detection Parameters and
Standards
♦ 17 Pre-saved Bio-Rad Standards
♦ Mac and PC compatibility
♦ Network versions
♦ CFR compliance
♦ One free full version license provided with each system sold in
addition to unlimited copies of Quantity One Basic. Quantity One
provides the user with tools to analyze and quantitate 1D gels
and blots, arrays, and colonies by use of volume analysis or
band analysis. A number of annotation and display features are
available. Quantity One is compatible with PC and Mac
platforms.
♦ Allows users to overlay differentially stained gels and blots
♦ Enables better assessment of band or spot features
♦ Promotes ease-of-use workflow
♦ Complete menu of reports to fit needs of different users
♦ Saves time on analysis of similar samples
♦ Convenience for faster MW determination
The GelDoc XR and Quantity One are compatible with both
Mac OSX (Intel and PowerPC) and PC (Vista, XP, and 2000)
platforms
♦ Network versions of the Quantity One software is available
as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10-user network license configurations
♦ An additional Quantity One software module is available to
assist users with meeting CFR Part 11 compliance
requirements