Qiagen has launched the Type-it HRM PCR kit and Rotor-Gene Screenclust HRM software - HRM (high-resolution melting) technology for fast, accurate genotyping results.
Genotyping is widely used to study genetic disorders such as human disease or cancer.
The ability to understand the genetic differences associated with cancer, for example, as well as linking them to biomarkers is a critical research tool.
Researchers rely on HRM to quickly and accurately detect and characterise known or previously unknown sequence variations down to a single base pair difference.
HRM is an easier, more cost-effective method than traditional genotyping analysis.
Qiagen said that its Type-it HRM PCR kit enables fast, accurate detection of gene mutations and SNPs.
The kit is said to be suitable for all genotyping research applications including typing of disease or cancer loci, biomarker discovery and pathogen detection.
The Type-it HRM PCR kit does not require optimisation in the development of new HRM assays, thus delivering consistent first-time performance.
'Due to the master mix chemistry and optimised HRM buffer, specific amplification products and reliable results are consistently ensured, even when analysing challenging mutations or genomic loci,' said Dr Ulla Deutsch, Qiagen senior global product manager, amplification.
'The reduced time required and reliability of results delivered place less burden upon resources, which results in significant savings,' he added.
The Type-it HRM PCR kit combined with the Rotor-Gene Q real-time PCR and HRM instrument delivers outstanding results, according to Qiagen.
The rotary design of the Rotor-Gene Q combined with its thermal and optical performance makes it a highly suitable instrument for HRM.
With the Rotor-Gene Q, even minute differences in melting profiles such as the most difficult Class IV SNPs can be interpreted.
In order for a researcher to have success in a genotyping experiment, reliable data analysis must be carried out.
Standard HRM software packages that are currently available often require manual data interpretation and lack the ability to rapidly analyse larger genotyping experiments.
The Rotor-Gene Screenclust HRM software from Qiagen is said to overcome the constraints of other software solutions by offering a stringent statistical approach to extract, process and group sample characteristics in HRM data sets automatically.
This approach even allows genotyping without control samples.
In combination with the Rotor-Gene Q or Rotor-Gene 6000, researchers are able to differentiate between alleles faster and more reliably.