The Powers of Odin: Comprehensive Cellular Characterization

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells change and adapt to their environments in ways that genomic characterization methods do not fully capture or predict. Even strains of the same species of microbe can show key differences in pathogenicity or sensitivity. Phenotypic analysis provides a complementary method for effectively characterizing the functional properties of cells. Biolog Phenotype MicroArray panels with redox reporter dyes have made this type of analysis possible for many years, as researchers grow their organisms under thousands of different pre-selected conditions at once to produce a functional metabolic readout. Biolog’s new Odin platform takes phenotypic characterization a step further, as kinetic data for both growth and respiration can be collected and analyzed simultaneously. We’ll show how measuring these two parameters on the new all-in-one system can be used to generate rich and informative data for comparing and characterizing cells.

Learning Objectives:
– Understand the importance of using phenotypic analysis to complement genetic characterization.
– Illustrate how to generate a comprehensive functional metabolic readout from thousands of different conditions at once.
– Identify a new method for collecting and analyzing kinetic data for growth and respiration simultaneously, generating rich and informative data for characterizing and comparing cells.