New genomics tools from Applied Biosystems broaden applications of RNA expression analysis

Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation, has announced the release of a new set of genomic analysis tools to aid disease research and agricultural studies.

These tools are available through the latest release of the TaqMan® Gene Expression Assays product line to evaluate levels of RNA expression in model organisms including cows, chickens, horses, pigs, rabbits and rice.

These new pre-designed TaqMan assays will allow researchers to expand their applications of real-time PCR-based gene expression analysis. The assays will enable genomic analysis of both plants for agricultural studies to improve crop yield, and animals for herd management. Also, assays for species such as chickens, rabbits, pigs and cattle will help to advance both animal and human disease research. For example, scientists at Michigan State University are applying RNA expression analysis to study mastitis, a disease that frequently afflicts dairy cattle, costing farmers billions of dollars a year. This team of researchers is using custom TaqMan Gene Expression Assays to characterise genes involved in tissue inflammation associated with this disease. They have also been able to use the cow as a model for studying the genetic basis of inflammation in human diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.

The newest release of TaqMan Gene Expression Assays broadens Applied Biosystems’ collection of more than a million pre-designed assays across 15 different species, and Applied Biosystems will continue to add to its catalogue of pre-designed assays for species and organisms relevant to critical research applications. TaqMan Gene Expression Assays are available through Applied Biosystems’ website.

Lorraine Sordillo, PhD, veterinary immunologist, College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University:

“Evaluating the meaning of quantitative changes in gene expression will provide valuable insights into molecular mechanisms underlying the process of inflammation. The pre-designed TaqMan Gene Expression Assays for bovines will make it easier for us to characterise functionally important genes for diseases affecting cattle and humans, and give us confidence in the accuracy of our data.”

Sam Raha, Vice President of Applied Biosystems’ Genomic Assays Business at Life Technologies:

“By expanding the species coverage in our portfolio of gold standard TaqMan Gene Expression Assays, we are providing more scientists with access to technology that gives high-confidence results and accelerates their research. These new molecular tools are part of our ongoing commitment to apply our assay design expertise, to help scientists focus on their biological research instead of technology development.”