Thermo Fisher launches TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express Kit to accelerate gene expression analysis

USA—Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the Invitrogen™ TaqMan™ Cells-to-CT™ Express 1-Step Kit, a new solution designed to help researchers move from cultured cells to gene expression results without conventional RNA purification.

The company said the kit simplifies the RT-qPCR workflow by eliminating RNA extraction, reducing sample preparation time, and limiting the number of handling steps required before gene expression analysis.

Simplifying RNA-to-Data Workflows

In a LinkedIn announcement, Jessica Stone, MBA, product manager for genomics at Thermo Fisher Scientific, highlighted the launch and said the new kit is designed to simplify the process of generating gene expression data from cultured cells.

Traditional workflows often require researchers to purify RNA before reverse transcription and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

Although RNA purification can produce high-quality samples, the additional steps can increase processing time, consumable use, pipetting and overall workflow complexity.

The TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express 1-Step Kit addresses these challenges by allowing researchers to perform direct cell lysis without first purifying RNA.

 The workflow then combines reverse transcription and qPCR in a single reaction, reducing the number of steps between sample preparation and gene expression analysis.

Faster Sample Preparation

According to Thermo Fisher Scientific, the kit can enable researchers to prepare 96 samples for RT-qPCR in approximately five minutes.

The streamlined process is designed to reduce hands-on time while allowing researchers to process larger numbers of samples efficiently.

The kit also uses direct cell lysis, removing the need for a separate RNA purification step.

This approach can reduce pipetting requirements, consumable use and plastic waste associated with conventional RNA extraction workflows.

Thermo Fisher Scientific said the kit delivers sensitivity equivalent to, or better than, workflows that use purified RNA.

Its pre-optimized chemistry is also designed to support consistent and reproducible results across experiments.

Streamlined Gene Expression Analysis

The company estimates that the complete workflow can take researchers from cultured cells to gene expression data in approximately 70 minutes.

This combines the speed of the Cells-to-CT Express workflow with the simplicity of one-step RT-qPCR.

By integrating cell lysis, reverse transcription and qPCR into a streamlined process, the new kit is designed to help researchers reduce sample preparation requirements and move more quickly into downstream gene expression analysis.

The TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express 1-Step Kit is intended for researchers seeking to simplify RT-qPCR workflows while reducing the time, materials and handling associated with RNA purification.

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