Applied Biosystems this week released its Mouse Assays-on-Demand product. The “initial” release of the assays, available on ABI’s e-commerce web site, includes more than 8,000 gene-specific TaqMan probe and primer sets for quantitative gene-expression studies on mouse genes. ABI expects to roll out additional assays “on an ongoing basis over the coming months.” A set of rat assays is due later this year, ABI said.
Separately, the company introduced its 7900HT Micro Fluidic Card, an assay system that can be customized with the Assays-on-Demand products for use on the ABI PRISM 7900HT Sequence Detection System. The new Micro Fluidic Card will enable researchers to access ABI’s 26,000 Assays-on-Demand products online to create their own micro card configuration, ABI said.
DNAPrint Genomics last week launched two new human-identity tests aimed at the forensics market. The first is based on the company’s new GenoMatch test, and the second is based on the standard CODIS STR tests used by most forensics laboratories today.
The new GenoMatch test is a less expensive, higher-throughput test that could be used for mass screenings, like the ones used for so-called DNA dragnets.
The CODIS STR test, meantime, will be bought by DNAPrint from established kit-manufacturers and resold as a higher-end service. Combined with Ancestry 2.0, DNAPrint now offers a broader menu of tests. For example, with DNAPrint’s DNAWITNESS service, investigators can “delimit” the suspect pool among geographical ancestry admixture proportions. With GenoMatch, investigators can mass-screen subjects within this delimited pool and verify any match found using the CODIS STR test, DNAPrint said.
Silicon Genetics has released the BioScript Library for its GeneSpring and GeNet software products. The library, which contains more than 40 scripts, includes tools for expression-data quality control, statistical analysis, and queries across the GeNet repository.
The library is available immediately and at no charge to GeneSpring or GeNet licensees, according to Silicon Genetics. Customers can find more information here: http://www.silicongenetics.com/bio.html