TATAA Biocenter Alu Assays
TATAA Biocenter is now offering ultra-sensitive qPCR assays targeting human-specific Alu repeats, which comprise about 10 percent of the human genome. The assays are available for different target lengths, which makes it possible to characterize the integrity of gDNA. The ration measured with TATAA ALU-60, which amplifies 60-bp targets, to TATAA ALU-187, which amplifies 187-bp targets, assesses the level and fraction of cell-free DNA in liquid biopsy samples. The assays can detect even miniscule amounts of human genomic DNA contamination, and contaminated reagents can be cleaned with the Heat/Run gDNA removal kit. The ALU quality control panel was in part developed for the CANCER-ID consortium, TATAA said.