Epi2: From bones to bacteria, front end homogenization and sample prep workflows

Connect with Bill:   / founderandcdo  
Connect with Caleb:   / caleb-proctor-866572b8  

Most labs inherit their sample prep instead of designing it—and pay for it in bad data, slow throughput, and miserable techs. In this episode of Omni Pod, I, Bill Schick, Fractional CMO @ meshagency.com sit down with Caleb Proctor, Research & Applications Lab Manager at Omni, to talk about what really happens at the front end of a workflow when you go from “pliers and vortexing” to standardized bead-mill homogenization. From bones to bacteria, seeds to clinical samples, Caleb’s team has seen it all.

See how Omni’s Bead Ruptor Elite helps labs build fast, repeatable sample prep workflows:

https://omni-inc.com/bead-ruptor-elite

We dig into how Caleb went from a pathogen-detection startup to running Omni’s research and applications lab, where his team supports everything from application notes and customer testing to solving ugly real-world problems—like labs “homogenizing” seeds with pliers or calling a vortexer a homogenizer. He explains why the right combination of bead media, speed, and tube format can turn a manual, operator-dependent mess into a high-throughput, contamination-resistant workflow.

What you’ll learn:

Why sample prep is still the most overlooked cause of bad or inconsistent data
How small changes in speed, bead size, and matrix can dramatically change yield and reproducibility
Real stories from the field: from plier-crushed seeds to high-throughput bead-mill extraction in plates and tubes

How to think about cross-contamination risk (tubes vs well plates, snap caps vs O-rings, open probes vs closed vessels)

A practical way to build “contamination-resistant” workflows that can be reproduced by any trained tech, not just the expert on the bench

Where bead mills add the most value: speed, yield, consistency, and enabling innovation on top of existing methods

How Caleb’s team partners with customers to develop and refine protocols, and when to customize vs when to use proven, one-size-fits-most methods

Who this is for:
Lab managers, application scientists, method development teams, and anyone responsible for sample prep in workflows involving nucleic acids, proteins, or small molecules—especially if you’re still relying on manual tools, inconsistent protocols, or “we’ve always done it this way.”

Subscribe for more practical, lab-tested conversations on building faster, cleaner, and more repeatable workflows at the front end of preclinical research—and drop your sample-prep questions in the comments so we can tackle them in a future episode.

https://omni-inc.com
https://omni-inc.com/bead-ruptor-elite

Keywords: sample preparation, homogenization, bead milling, Bead Ruptor Elite, cross-contamination, closed-tube workflows, method development, application science, lab workflows, protocol standardization, preclinical research, high-throughput sample prep, Omni International, nucleic acid extraction, protein extraction, tough tissues, seeds, bones to bacteria.

Hashtags:
#SamplePrep #Homogenization #BeadMilling #LabWorkflows #DataIntegrity #LabEfficiency #LifeScienceTools #OmniInternational #Revvity #PreclinicalResearch