Product News: Agilent Technologies Oligo Design Tool Expanded to Include Custom CGH, ChIP-on-Chip, DNA Methylation Array Capabilities

Agilent Technologies Inc. has introduced an enhanced version of SureDesign software enabling clinical researchers to design customized CGH (comparative genomic hybridization), ChIP-on-chip (chromatin immunoprecipitation), and DNA methylation microarrays for molecular cytogenomics and other applications.

The new version of SureDesign replaces these microarray applications for the eArray platform and provides users with a more streamlined and intuitive design experience. Existing eArray user data has been automatically transferred to the new SureDesign software. Researchers will continue to receive the same unmatched flexibility in microarray design capabilities as before but with greater ease and at speeds up to five times faster.

"The new SureDesign platform is one of the best websites I've encountered for online design and molecular biology," said Dr. Kenneth Beckman, director of the University of Minnesota's Biomedical Genomics Center. "Transitioning from eArray has been a seamless process, and we are enjoying the remarkable power and flexibility of the platform's enhanced design tools."

SureDesign's expanded design capabilities include a number of important features not available on any other platform:
• SureDesign is the only publicly available microarray design platform in the industry.
• The platform is free to all registered users.
• Unmatched flexibility enables users to design using pre-existing content or from Agilent's high-definition CGH and location analysis databases.
• SureDesign has both "standard" and "advanced" design settings for easier navigation of routine designs, and it provides advanced users with more control to customize inputs if they choose.
• Arrays are available in eight different formats. Researchers can simultaneously query up to six different genome databases while they individually customize the number of unique probes and level of redundancy they require.
• SureDesign's intuitive design environment enables researchers to input customizable parameters tailored to their specific needs, allowing more control over the potential for incidental findings.

"The new SureDesign platform resolves several considerable pain points for our molecular cytogenetic researchers," said Victor Fung, senior director of marketing for Agilent's Genomics division. "It not only optimizes the capabilities of our SurePrint technology, it delivers custom array content and designs that meet a full spectrum of research objectives while providing a rapid, flexible and economical alternative to off-the-shelf design platforms."

Best known for its superior next-generation sequencing functionality, SureDesign is a Web-based design tool used to build NGS target enrichment libraries for SureSelect and HaloPlex systems and now also custom microarray designs. The newly optimized version provides a modern user interface and an intuitive design workflow, enabling new and experienced users to easily develop and order custom designs. For more information, click on the company website link below.