Wafergen Biosystems has announced that researchers have demonstrated the performance of the company's Smartchip real-time PCR system in the initial phase of the platform's alpha testing programme.
Tests conducted at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have shown the Smartchip system's complete workflow on 1,000 oncology genes, by studying RNA isolated from lung tissue samples from healthy patients, as well as from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Key workflow elements demonstrated include primer-ready Smartchips and the drying and reconstitution of primers for rapid high-throughput 100-nanolitre real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
The platform's ability to perform PCR in nano-volumes without any pre-amplification has been demonstrated using various control genes, as well as indicators of other genes that are known to be expressed in patient samples.
The next phase of the alpha testing programme will focus on using the Smartchip system to identify biomarkers of interest.
Upon completion of the alpha testing programme, data will be presented and/or published in appropriate academic venues.
