Applied Biosystems’ technology for real-time PCR receives Best New Product award

The StepOne™ real-time PCR system from Applied Biosystems, an Applera Corporation business, was recently awarded Best New Life Science Product for 2007. The award was presented by SelectScience.net, a leading online resource for life scientists and chemists, which polled more than 40,000 members of the worldwide scientific community to nominate their favourite life science products during the past year. The award was presented at Analytica 2008, the leading international trade fair for analytics, laboratory technology, biotechnology and the life sciences.

Launched by Applied Biosystems in January of 2007, the StepOne and StepOnePlus Systems were developed in response to the growing market of researchers interested in the increasing number of applications of real-time PCR, a common laboratory method used to simultaneously detect and determine the amount of nucleic acids present in biological samples. The systems can perform both standard and fast thermal cycling for any real-time PCR application, such as gene expression analysis, SNP genotyping, gene detection, and viral load analysis.

These systems were designed with user-friendly, yet highly functional interfaces for both new and experienced real-time PCR researchers. The StepOne Systems are among the most cost-effective systems available, offering comparable levels of data quality and the flexibility researchers have come to expect from Applied Biosystems’ industry-leading portfolio of real-time PCR systems, at price points that are affordable for the vast majority of laboratories looking to implement a real-time PCR solution.

Researchers around the world are using the StepOne and StepOne Plus Systems, including scientists at the department of molecular oncology at the University Hospital in Rostock, Germany. This team of scientists is using the StepOne System as part of their research into genes and microRNAs. The scientists are focused on the role of certain microRNA molecules in the development and progression of benign and malignant melanomas.

“We think the StepOne System has deservedly won the innovations award,” said Julia Schultz, PhD. “Compared to our previous real-time PCR system, StepOne is user-friendly, easy to handle, and intuitive to operate, so we don’t need to spend lots of time reading a manual. In the past we had to edit our PCR output using other software programs, but with StepOne, our workflow has become much more efficient in that the system directly generates the CT-values as well as a bar chart, and further edits are not necessary.”

Among the features of the StepOne and StepOnePlus Systems that make these instruments easier to use is intuitive software that simplifies their operation, with wizards that can be tailored to run specific experiments and guide new users through set-up, operation and analysis. More experienced users can customise experimental design parameters such as thermal cycling protocols and nucleic acid template types. The StepOne instruments can be connected to a local area network, making it possible for researchers to participate in distributed research collaborations, such as those commonly conducted in academic and public research environments.

"We would like to congratulate Applied Biosystems for winning the Best New Life Science Product,” said Kerry Parker, editor for SelectScience. “We are delighted to have hosted this web awards ceremony at Analytica. The online scientific community now has a channel to voice its opinion and provide feedback to manufacturers about which new products they feel have contributed towards laboratory research efforts."

The SelectScience New Product Award is the second honour for the StepOne family of instruments. It was previously recognised with an award for industrial design from the editors of Instrument Business Outlook (IBO), an industry newsletter covering the analytical and life-science instruments markets. The IBO Design Awards recognise products that are both aesthetically appealing and that enhance the end-user’s experience. The StepOne system received a Bronze award in the category for Analytical Instrument Industrial Design.