Bio-Rad Laboratories has introduced SsoFast EvaGreen Supermix with low ROX which enhances the speed, reliability, and sensitivity of qPCR experiments performed on instruments requiring ROX reference dye.

The ROX-blended version of the SsoFast EvaGreen supermix is optimized for users of PCR systems that employ ROX as a passive reference for normalization. SsoFast EvaGreen supermix with low ROX can be used effectively on Bio-Rad’s real-time PCR detection systems, as well as on the ABI 7500 Fast and Standard, ABI StepOne and StepOnePlus, and Stratagene MX-series real-time PCR systems.

Through instant polymerase activation, optimal primer binding, and rapid polymerization kinetics, SsoFast EvaGreen supermix with low ROX can help researchers reduce their time-to-results from 90 minutes or more, for standard cycling to between 35 and 45 minutes.

Millipore unveils CpGenome Turbo kit
EMD Millipore, the life sciences division of Merck, Germany, has introduced a rapid kit for bisulfite conversion, which is a critical first step in mapping the differences in genomic DNA methylation patterns. Aberrant DNA methylation can result in inappropriate activation or silencing of specific genes, and is associated with errors in embryonic development as well as onset of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases.

The new CpGenome Turbo kit converts unmethylated cytosines to uracil in 90 minutes, which is twice as fast as commonly used bisulfite kits and reagents. By increasing the throughput of bisulfite modification, the CpGenome Turbo kit allows researchers to examine DNA from more samples in less time. It’s conversion reagent reduces incubation times while retaining high efficiency, converting more than 99.9 percent of unmethylated cytosines to uracil.

Agilent introduces cytogenetics tool
Agilent Technologies introduced the SurePrint G3 Human CGH+SNP microarray platform, an innovative system for simultaneous analysis of chromosomal copy number changes and copy-neutral aberrations. The system allows researchers to study the genetic basis of developmental disorders as well as many cancers. This is said to be the only two-color CGH platform that can detect loss of heterozygosity/uniparental disomy (LOH/UPD) with five to 10 megabase resolution.

The SurePrint G3 CGH+SNP microarrays use the identical high-throughput workflow as the current CGH-only microarrays, so they can be simply and efficiently incorporated into cytogenetic research. Agilent’s Genomic Workbench software compliments array analysis by employing novel algorithms to determine copy number changes using CGH probes, to measure allele-specific copy numbers of SNP probes, and to locate regions of LOH/UPD.