Walkersville, MD (USA) / Basel, Switzerland, 14 March 2019 – Lonza has further strengthened its extensive mycoplasma detection portfolio with the addition of the Lucetta™ 2 Luminometer, a single-tube system designed to simplify and accelerate mycoplasma detection in cell cultures. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic researchers can now rely on this compact, portable and easy-to-use instrument to run Lonza's MycoAlert™ Mycoplasma Detection Assays and obtain highly reliable results within just 20 minutes.

Mycoplasma contamination is one of the most common challenges facing cell-culture laboratories, and it can have a profound impact on cell integrity. However, some of the most widely used mycoplasma detection methods have been associated with time and quality inefficiencies. For example, the agar-and-broth procedure, although highly accurate, takes at least four weeks to complete, while the polymerase chain reaction method requires several hours with an increased likelihood for false positives and negatives.

“The expansion of our portfolio with the new Lucetta™ 2 Luminometer establishes Lonza as the leading provider of fast, simple and accurate mycoplasma detection solutions,” said Dr. Claudia Schwartz, Product Manager for Cell Analysis at Lonza. “This small, lightweight instrument can be readily and directly integrated into standard cell-culture workflows without causing any interruptions. It offers highly sensitive and linear measurements of active mycoplasma enzymes in a fraction of the time needed for other techniques and with minimal effort. What's more, the Lucetta™ 2 Luminometer comes at an affordable price, making it suitable for laboratories of all sizes.”

Lonza's Lucetta™ 2 Luminometer provides a wealth of features and benefits, including:

• High data-storage capacity for up to 2,000 single sample readings
• Compatibility with a variety of test tubes, from regular 1.5 or 2 ml microcentrifuge tubes to 5 ml polystyrene tubes
• Intuitive software that guides users through the MycoAlert™ Mycoplasma Detection Assay routine without requiring any prior training
• Easy transfer of results to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet for long-term storage using the Lucetta™ Connect software platform
• Capability to run additional luminescence-based assays, such as Adenosine TriPhosphate-based cell proliferation or cytotoxicity assays and luciferase reporter gene assays

Further information can be found via the website www.lonza.com/lucetta-2.