New TaqMan^® assays improve data quality of real-time PCR applications

Applied Biosystems has released the TaqMan Gene Expression Master Mix and TaqMan Genotyping Master Mix reagents, so that researchers can boost the performance of their quantitative real-time PCR or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping applications.

For quantitative real-time PCR applications, the TaqMan Gene Expression Master Mix, used in conjunction with TaqMan Gene Expression Assays, results in highly sensitive assays capable of detecting even a single copy of target nucleic acid in samples. The TaqMan Genotyping Master Mix, used in conjunction with TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays, helps researchers to accurately identify discrete clusters of SNP alleles. The master mix reagents can be used with more than 700,000 pre-designed TaqMan Gene Expression Assays, over 4 million TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays or any of the custom TaqMan Assays that are available for customer-specific gene expression or genotyping assays.

These master mix reagents contain a highly purified enzyme that minimises non-specific product formation and allows reactions to be started at room temperature. Automated handling systems can be used for high throughput applications as the enzyme remains stable in the reaction mixture, even after 72 hours on the bench. These new master mix reagents can easily be incorporated into existing application protocols without changing thermal cycling conditions.