Rubicon Genomics Introduces PicoPlex Single Cell Whole Genome Amplification Kit for Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnostics and Stem Cell and Cancer Cell Research

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rubicon Genomics, Inc., a developer of pre-amplification products that enable optimal performance of the most advanced genetic analysis tools, announced today the release of its PicoPlex™ Single Cell Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) kit—a more rapid, accurate and reproducible method for amplifying single genomes than current technologies. This product targets the pre-implantation genetic diagnostics (PGD), cancer research and stem cell research markets, which require rapid, reproducible amplification to profile patient genotypes, karyotypes and mutations. PicoPlex enables reference labs to begin qPCR, microarray or sequencing analysis less than three hours after collecting patient cells.

“And the few genomic alleles that are under-represented in the one-cell WGA are predictable, making the data sets easy to anticipate and accommodate. We like the predictability of this product when examining many alleles from single haploid and diploid cells.”

“With the PicoPlex Single Cell WGA kit, researchers can now obtain the same amount of genomic information from one cell as they do from 10,000 cells,” said James Koziarz, acting president and CEO of Rubicon Genomics.

“We use the PicoPlex Single Cell WGA technology because it reproducibly amplifies a large percentage of the genome every time,” said Mark Hughes, CEO of Genesis Genetics Institute, a pioneer in pre-implantation genomics diagnostics that has evaluated dozens of single cell WGA technologies over the past 16 years. “And the few genomic alleles that are under-represented in the one-cell WGA are predictable, making the data sets easy to anticipate and accommodate. We like the predictability of this product when examining many alleles from single haploid and diploid cells.”

Researchers can use the PicoPlex Single Cell WGA kits to reliably extract more genetic information from single cells with minimal background. Specifically, the kit reproducibly amplifies total DNA one million-fold from single cells to produce five micrograms of amplified DNA in less than three hours.

Current single-cell WGA kits using molecular displacement amplification (MDA) technology do not offer reproducible amplification of whole genomes, causing sporadic allele and locus dropouts, which seriously compromise results in PGD. Hence, microarray and qPCR genetic analysis of single cells using MDA-amplified DNA is noisy and produces unreliable data.

Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) technology has historically been used to examine the chromosomes in PGD, but many laboratories are moving away from this subjective assessment of one cell. Newer technologies employ qPCR and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on microarrays. These require high fidelity, genome-wide DNA amplification technology. With PicoPlex Single Cell WGA, researchers can now confidently employ microarrays and qPCR for more accurate genotyping, karotyping and copy number variation analysis from single cells.

PicoPlex’s ability to amplify genomic DNA from single cells opens new avenues for research on embryos, stem cells and cancer cells. For oncologists, the PicoPlex Single Cell WGA kit may enable more specific diagnosis or prognosis using a patient’s circulating cancer cells. Additionally, it enables the study of heterogeneity of cancer cells creating a better understanding of the broader range of gene expression in each cell, helping researchers potentially identify more specific cancer biomarkers.

To find out more or to purchase PicoPlex Single Cell WGA kits, visit http://www.rubicongenomics.com/picoplex/.

About Rubicon Genomics, Inc.

Rubicon is a pre-analytical platform company that commercializes reagents and kits to increase the analytical and clinical performance of instrument platforms including qPCR, microarrays, and next-generation sequencing. Rubicon kits amplify small clinical samples into large amounts of pure DNA with uniform concentration and molecular weight that increase the sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of analysis in research and diagnostic applications, including single cells, formalin-fixed tissue and plasma. Rubicon sells licenses and kits to the clinical markets, including pre-implantation and prenatal testing, cancer testing, and diagnostic manufacturing. Visit www.rubicongenomics.com for more information.