Invitrogen partners with Genisphere to produce MicroRNA labelling kits

Invitrogen is set to become the exclusive provider of fluorescent microRNA microarray labelling kits using Genisphere’s 3DNA dendrimer signal amplification technology.

Under the terms of a new licensing agreement between the two companies, this technology, combined with Invitrogen’s lexa Fluor fluorescent dyes will be commercialised in the new NCode Rapid miRNA Labelling System, from Invitrogen.

Having previously been awarded the Frost and Sullivan technology innovation award for nucleic acid labelling products for microarrays in 2005, Genisphere’s technology will help ensure that the NCode Rapid miRNA system is a "fast and reproducible" way of labelling microRNAs (ribonucleic acids) with fluorescent Alexa Fluor tags.

According to Invitrogen, the new system will enable scientists to begin with a total RNA sample of 250 nanograms – eliminating the need to purify the microRNA sample before labelling.

Peter Welch, director of research and development, Gene Expression Profiling at Invitrogen, said: "Our new kit accelerates the discovery of novel microRNA biomarkers by reducing the amount of time scientists must invest to detect microRNAs.

"In addition, we have increased sensitivity compared to alternative technologies, which can preserve precious samples."

Invitrogen is based in more than 70 nations around the world and employs some 4,700 scientists.