Agilent Technologies Introduces Microarray for Rapid Screening of Aneuploidy in Single Cells from Embryos

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) has introduced the GenetiSure Pre-Screen Kit, a high-throughput oligonucleotide microarray for screening aneuploidy and other genomic aberrations in the 5- to 10-Mb range from single cells in three- and five-day embryos.

Agilent's kit allows for a turnaround time of less than eight hours from DNA extraction to data analysis-an industry first. The kit consists of a microarray that can run up to 14 samples and two reference samples simultaneously, so more embryos can be screened without significantly increasing costs.

"No other array platform currently has this high-throughput capacity, with less than eight hours turn-around time, with this resolution," said Dr. Richard Choy, Ph.D., director of the Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis Center and associate professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

"We are cautious about the overall cost and value of our screening," Choy said. "We are able to use the capacity of Agilent's kit to address this price sensitivity, and it will be key technology in our work."

Agilent's GenetiSure prescreen kit was developed based on a protocol designed by Ali Hellani, Ph.D., director of the Viafet Genomic Center in Dubai.

"Agilent's microarray data can show small, few-megabase microdeletions that are very difficult to detect at a single-cell level," Hellani said.

The GenetiSure Pre-Screen array is based on Agilent's market-leading technology for high-resolution oligonucleotide comparative genomic hybridization. The kit contains all necessary reagents to enable whole-genome amplification and labeling of single cells. The microarray is compatible with Agilent's CytoGenomics software (version 3.0 or higher) for easy data analysis.

Agilent's GenetiSure Pre-Screen Kit is for research use only, not for use in diagnostic procedures.