Articles

The realm of druggable targets has expanded significantly with the advent of mRNA therapeutics. Scientists require exceptional accuracy and confidence to adequately characterize these therapeutics and their anticipated effects. To this end, Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology has proven invaluable. With unparalleled precision and absolute quantification, Droplet Digital PCR is revolutionizing the field of mRNA therapeutic development and manufacturing.

RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a fundamental discovery technique for determining the expression patterns of encoded genes. RNA-Seq has led to innumerable breakthroughs across disciplines; however, a need remains for new sequencing and library preparation technologies to address gaps in current methods. Read how improved access to RNA-Seq would benefit translational research and how a novel RNA library preparation chemistry can synergize with new sequencing platforms.

Christien Bowman, MSc, has traversed a path from psychology to neuroscience, and is now working on attaining his PhD in biomedicine. In this interview, we discussed how Bowman uses Chelex 100 Resin as part of a fast and cost-effective method to determine the sex of zebra finch songbirds. This work ultimately helps Bowman study a behavioral paradigm that creates autism-like features in songbirds.

When it comes to tumor profiling, the poor quality and degradation of RNA in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples are major limitations. To overcome this challenge, we tested a novel RNA-Seq workflow using the SEQuoia Complete Library Prep Kit and the SEQuoia Ribodepletion Kit. This workflow offers more complex transcriptome profiling, including both long and short RNA biotypes, to better represent the complete transcriptome.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells represent the next generation of therapeutic interventions and are a major advancement in personalized disease treatment. CAR T-cell therapies utilize a patient’s own T cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells or other disease-causing cells. Find out how the ZE5 Cell Analyzer has helped overcome some of the challenges associated with development of these powerful new therapies.

Historically, five-year survival rates have been used to evaluate cancer therapeutic effectiveness in clinical trials. But time is critical for research — and for patients. Fortunately, there is a promising method for evaluating cancer therapeutic effectiveness that could potentially offer prognostic insights after just one year. Noninvasive liquid biopsy analysis, including analysis of circulating tumor DNA, is improving researchers’ ability to detect clinical responses more rapidly.

Carter Mitchell, PhD, is a protein problem solver. As Chief Science Officer at Kemp Proteins, he helps academic and industry researchers develop a range of protein therapeutics, diagnostics, and molecular tools in milligram to gram quantities with bioprocess scale in mind. In this interview, we discussed how Kemp Proteins ensures delivery of high-quality processes and protein-based products to their clients, even when working with difficult proteins.

Current vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have reduced the severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the drastic and quick evolution of the virus poses challenges to the development of durable and efficacious therapeutics for vaccine and antibody developers alike. See how the Bio-Plex Pro Human SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Custom Assay Developer Kit speeds up the qualitative measurement of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against new SARS-CoV-2 variants, removing a roadblock in COVID-19 therapeutic development.

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer treatment, yet the drug discovery process to develop new biotherapeutic antibodies remains arduous. However, significant advances in antibody technology such as phage display have enabled fully human antibodies to be developed from animal-free libraries for just about any antigen.

As SARS-CoV-2 becomes an endemic agent worldwide, communities and health agencies must figure out how to identify novel variants and track infection rates in ways that are sustainable, sensitive, and accurate. Fortunately, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has proven its ability to play an important role in monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks, and Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) has become a cornerstone method for ongoing wastewater-based disease surveillance. In this article, we review the role of wastewater-based testing in community health before, during, and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, and we explore why ddPCR technology is ideally suited for this application as it continues to expand and evolve.