NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Takara Bio USA has announced a supply deal with the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Under the terms of the agreement, the firm will provide its Smart-Seq v4 Ultra Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing for use in single-cell gene expression profiling of brain cells.
The library preparation technology converts polyadenylated RNA into cDNA, which is amplified and turned into sequencing libraries for use with Illumina instruments.
The Allen Institute is developing a publicly available database to hold information on cell morphology, signaling, and gene expression for the various cell types found in the brain.
The firm said in a statement that the kit offers the ability to provide full-length gene coverage as well as capture splice junctions and alternative splicing.
Clontech, at one point a subsidiary of Becton Dickinson, originally developed the Smart-Seq technology, and was acquired by Japan's Takara Bio for $60 million in 2005.
In April, Takara Bio USA announced a RNA sequencing and product-development collaboration with Integrated DNA Technologies.