Bio-Rad Adds New PrimePCR™ Products for Droplet Digital™ PCR (ddPCR™)

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. has announced the launch of new PrimePCR Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR™) Assays. This release expands Bio-Rad’s offering of predesigned validated copy number assays to a total of 658 targets, 57 of which are centromeric reference assays. The mutation detection assay offering now covers 209 mutations, of which 184 have short amplicon assays available for use with fragmented and challenging samples. This expansion also introduces assays for transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis of human, mouse, and rat genomes. In total, Bio-Rad now offers more than 120,000 PrimePCR Assays for use with Droplet Digital PCR.

Bio-Rad’s ddPCR technology provides an absolute measure of target DNA molecules without the need for a standard curve. PrimePCR ddPCR Assays are available for use in three key application areas:

1. Mutation detection — enables detection of one mutant molecule in a background of 2,000 wild-type molecules
2. Copy number variation — enables the quantitative discrimination required to resolve small fold changes in gene copy numbers for CNV analysis
3. Gene expression analysis — enables the detection of small fold changes in the expression of a target gene between samples and quantification of rare transcripts

Alternatives for researchers who work with FISH and FFPE samples
The new assays include validated centromeric copy number reference assays that provide a faster, less labor-intensive alternative to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for cytogeneticists studying the area near the chromosome centromere. Scientists can also combine these assays with paired (on the same chromosome) target assays to distinguish between focal and arm-level copy number variations.

Mutation detection PrimePCR ddPCR Assays for difficult sample types are also being introduced. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples often contain degraded DNA and are challenging to work with. Use of a short amplicon assay can improve limits of detection when working with FFPE or cfDNA samples in which target nucleic acid concentrations are very low. The new PrimePCR ddPCR Assays include short amplicon assays that target mutations in genes such as KIT, HRAS, BRAF, and NRAS. These assays are offered as separate mutant and matching wild-type assays.

PrimePCR ddPCR Gene Expression Assays are available for both hydrolysis probe– and EvaGreen-based detection. All PrimePCR ddPCR Assays are compatible with Bio-Rad’s QX200™ ddPCR Systems, including the QX200™ AutoDG™ Droplet Digital™ PCR System.

Bio-Rad offers a lookup tool on the website that enables customers to search for PrimePCR ddPCR Assays based on gene/target name, application, and chromosome location.