Affymetrix recently introduced its SensationPlus FFPE Reagent Kit. The new offering relies on RNA amplification and labeling modules to enable gene-expression profiling of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples on the firm's GeneChip 3' IVT arrays and Almac Diagnostics' Xcel Array for disease research and retrospective studies.
The SensationPlus FFPE Reagent Kit is an advanced version of technology Affymetrix licensed from Genisphere last year. This technology has since been optimized to overcome the challenges associated with analyzing archived FFPE samples, especially those as old as a decade or more, the company said.
Affy also claimed that the kit generates sufficient target from as little as 20 nanograms of FFPE-derived total RNA for gene-expression profiling applications such as biomarker discovery and validation.