Prolinx of Bothell, Wash., has released its RapXtract fluorescent cDNA purification kit. The technology underlying this kit involves superparamagnetic particles that extract contaminating fluorescent dyes. The particles are designed to bind to precursors but not products of reactions, the company said.
Enodar, a Seattle-area bioinformatics spinoff of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has made a demo version of its GenePlus gene expression analysis software available for download at its website, www.enodar.com. The software package, developed by Lue Ping Xhao, a professor at the Hutchinson center, adapts applied multiple regression analysis for microarray data mining. This statistical tool is designed to be particularly useful for large-scale clinical studies. In multiple regression analysis, different variables such as age, gender, and smoking status are examined in relationship to the dependent variable, which is gene expression level in the case of microarrays.