Bio-Rad has launched PrimePCR assays for Droplet Digital PCR.
The new pre-designed assays for mutation detection and copy number variation have been experimentally validated to provide single-copy resolution without a standard curve, Bio-Rad said. In this first release, Bio-Rad is offering 14 mutation-detection assays with matching wild-type assays for biologically relevant and highly prevalent cancer mutation targets, such as BRAF V600E and EGFR T790M, chosen from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer, or COSMIC, database.
Combined with Bio-Rad's QX100 Droplet Digital PCR system, the assays can detect a single mutant copy in a background of 2,000 or more wild-type molecules (0.05 percent mutation frequency). In addition, researchers can use 62 assays targeting common cancer genes and two reference target assays to discriminate small-fold copy number changes.
Bio-Rad said it has partnered with BioGazelle and Integrated DNA Technologies to design, optimize, and experimentally validate the assays. The assays use universal cycling conditions and are available in multiple reaction sizes.
Bioline, a subsidiary of Meridian Bioscience, has launched the MyTaq Extract-PCR kit.
Powered by the high-performance MyTaq DNA Polymerase, the new kit offers a quick and easy alternative for extracting and amplifyinfg DNA from a variety of mammalian tissue types, Bioline said. Researchers using the kit can replace complicated and time-consuming extraction methods with a 15-minute, single-tube protocol, making it ideal for high-throughput applications such as mouse genotyping and sequencing, the company said.
With the new kit, researchers can now "quickly achieve the purity and yield necessary for high-performance PCR and real-time PCR experiments from solid tissues, such as mouse tail or mouse ear," Bioline President Marco Calzavara said in a statement.