Scientist from the Jenner Institute shared his journey from ELISA to ECL to xMAP® Technology
The Luminex team was delighted to participate in Biomarkers & Precision Medicine UK meeting in the Fall of 2025. It was a milestone event for this important conference, celebrating its 20th year. With the meeting’s focus on biomarker discovery and validation, two areas where xMAP® Technology is widely used, this was a wonderful event to learn the latest innovations in the field across academia, biopharma, translational research, and diagnostics.
There, Luminex hosted a workshop to educate attendees about the multiplexing power of xMAP Technology for biomarker discovery and development. Speaker Samuel Provstgaard-Morys from the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute gave a presentation about developing a multiplex assay for malaria vaccine immunology. He and his team initially used singleplex ELISA tests but transitioned to electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-based solid matrix assays for increased efficiency. Ultimately, however, the ECL assays were too costly and couldn’t be customized in the lab.
The path to multiplexing: Jenner Institute’s move to xMAP Technology
That’s when the Jenner team turned to xMAP Technology with the xMAP INTELLIFLEX® DR-SE System from Luminex. This unique bead-based technology enables high-throughput testing of up to 500 analytes per reaction, generating more data while saving sample, time, and reagents. Assays can be optimized by scientists themselves, unlike the ECL assays, which must be fine-tuned by the manufacturer. Switching to xMAP Technology gave Provstgaard-Morys much more control over his assay and significantly reduced overall costs.
Using the xMAP INTELLIFLEX DR-SE System gave the team a key advantage: the unique dual channel feature, which incorporates an extra laser that enables scientists to interrogate two parameters per analyte. Provstgaard-Morys used this feature to detect two different antibody types, IgG and IgA, for a more comprehensive malaria serology assay.
Driving malaria research forward with xMAP Technology
Additionally, xMAP Technology’s wide availability in Africa provides Provstgaard-Morys and his team with a unique opportunity to expand clinical trials into countries most affected by malaria. The flexible and economical platform makes it an ideal fit for this type of research. With so many attending the workshop, it was an honor to bring well-deserved attention to the Jenner Institute’s life-saving efforts.
There were many great presentations at the meeting, and we enjoyed learning about many new advances in translational research, drug discovery, and diagnostic assay development. We’re already looking forward to next year’s meeting!
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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.