Illumina TruSight Software Suite
Illumina has launched the TruSight Software Suite for genetic disease testing using whole-genome sequencing. It enables sample-to-report analysis, allowing users to go from 5 million variants to a small number of candidates in a rapid and scalable way. The software suite, developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and other experts and offered as a "software as a service" solution, promises to reduce test interpretation time from as much as several weeks to as little as a few hours. It is certified for HIPAA compliance, ISO 27001, and ISO 13485 and is built to enable data privacy and compliance with the principles of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
NIST SARS-CoV-2 Research Grade Test Material
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a reference material to aid in the evaluation and development of RT-qPCR assays for SARS-CoV-2. The reference material consists of two synthetic RNA fragments from the SARS-CoV-2 genome in a background of 5 ng/μL human Jurkat RNA (stored at –80° C, BSL-1). Fragment 1, which has a total length of 3,985 nucleotides, and includes SARS-CoV-2 sequence 25949-29698 of isolate USA-WA1/2020; and Fragment 2, which has a total length of 3,790 nucleotides and includes SARS-CoV-2 sequence 12409-15962 of isolate USA-WA1/2020.
NIST said the synthetic fragments can be used to assess limits of detection for SARS-CoV-2 assays or calibrate other in-house or commercial SARS-CoV-2 controls. NIST characterized the material by size and using multiple reverse transcription droplet-digital PCR and qPCR methods. The agency is making the material free of charge through funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, in exchange for user feedback to help improve and further develop the material.
Horizon Discovery Cas9, dCas9-VPR Cell Lines
Horizon Discovery has released its stably expressing Cas9 and dCas9-VPR cell lines to aid researchers in gene knockout and gene activation experiments, respectively. The cell lines are optimized to work alongside Horizon's Edit-R predesigned synthetic single-guide RNA and CRISPRa guide RNA, for complete, simple, and streamlined CRISPR gene editing and modulation workflows.
The Cas9 and dCas9-VPR stable cell lines were generated using Horizon's Edit-R Lentiviral particles with a blasticidin resistance cassette, and are provided in pooled format. The cell lines are QC verified and validated to ensure stable expression and functionality of Cas9 or dCas9-VPR endonuclease in a range of common cell backgrounds, the company said. Both cell lines are available in the same background to enable loss- and gain-of-function studies to be performed in parallel.
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