The Critical Role of PCR in Vaccine Research: An Interview
Meagan Callis, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Hamilton Company
Brian Young, Ph.D., Consulting Sr. Scientist
Automating PCR Workflows for Vaccine R&D
Improve consistency, reduce hands-on time, and support reproducible vaccine research
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) remains one of the most important techniques in molecular biology and is often performed as part of gene synthesis and sequencing in RNA vaccine research and development. But for many vaccine research labs, PCR setup is still highly manual, repetitive, and vulnerable to variability.
Automating PCR workflows can help scientists improve consistency, reduce manual pipetting, and streamline reaction setup, especially when working across multiple samples, targets, or experimental conditions.
In this article, Dr. Brian Young discusses how PCR supports RNA vaccine research and evolving molecular biology workflows, as well as the growing role of compact benchtop automation in improving reproducibility and workflow efficiency.
Common Challenges in Manual PCR Workflows
Manual PCR setup can introduce variability through inconsistent pipetting, sample preparation differences, and user-to-user technique variation, particularly as throughput demands increase.
Repetitive setup steps can also increase hands-on time and make it more difficult to maintain consistency across samples, runs, and users
How Benchtop Automation Helps Improve PCR Workflows
- Helps reduce variability introduced by manual pipetting
- Improves consistency across runs and users
- Supports more reproducible PCR setup workflows
- Reduces hands-on time for repetitive sample preparation tasks
- Helps labs manage increasing throughput demands more efficiently
Read the interview to learn how PCR supports vaccine research and how small-scale automation can help improve consistency, throughput, and efficiency in molecular biology workflows.