Life Technologies announces new DNA sequencing portfolio for lab research

Life Technologies Corporation today announced a series of new product innovations across the company's DNA sequencing portfolio. To date, most sequencing technologies have primarily addressed the needs of researchers in the highest throughput laboratories, limiting widespread accessibility of these powerful next-generation sequencing technologies. As a pioneer of DNA sequencing, Life Technologies continues to enable researchers in any size laboratory to access applications that meet their specific technical and financial research requirements. As a result of these innovations, researchers now have greater flexibility from their sequencing platforms, a more simplified sample preparation, increased data throughput and expedited data analysis.

“These advances underscore our commitment to bringing sequencing to the masses at a cost and scale that directly addresses the technical needs and financial hurdles facing the research community”

"These advances underscore our commitment to bringing sequencing to the masses at a cost and scale that directly addresses the technical needs and financial hurdles facing the research community," said Gregory T. Lucier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Life Technologies. "By making DNA sequencing economically accessible to labs of all sizes, we are enabling novel research, not feasible using other technologies, in applied markets including synthetic biology, molecular medicine and food safety."

Advances in the Life Technologies portfolio include:

Sequencing Systems

• SOLiD FlowChip™ allows scientists to run as few as one lane containing up to 96 samples or as many as twelve lanes for more than 1,000 samples, while maintaining the same overall cost per run. As a result, scientists can process samples economically, as a pay-as-you-go reagent model.
• Ion 316 Semiconductor Sequencing Chip offers 100Mb of data throughput, ten times the performance of the original Ion 314 chip. The Ion 316 chip does not require an upgrade to another sequencer because, unlike other sequencing platforms, the actual sequencing mechanism in Ion Torrent technology is not in the sequencing instrument but in the chip, which directly senses chemicals. The Ion 316 will be available to early access customers in the first quarter of 2011.

Sample Preparation

• Library Builder™ System is a bench-top device that automates the multi-step library construction process associated with DNA sequencing. The system is designed for both the 5500 SOLiD™ Series and the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM™), and improves data reproducibility while saving researchers significant time in the lab.
• DNA and RNA Library Preparation Kits optimized for the Ion Torrent PGM, are designed to simplify and automate sample preparation. The new kits enable researchers with higher throughput needs to move from DNA or RNA sample extraction to library completion in just two hours using a single tube.

Data Analysis

• LifeScope Genomic Analysis Software^TM is a new platform that enables the accurate and rapid analysis of billions of next-generation sequencing reads and combines the ease-of-use of an intuitive graphical interface with performance-tuned algorithms that cut sequence mapping times in half. It features pushbutton workflows for the mapping and detection of genomic variation, fully supports the Exact Call Chemistry Module of the 5500 Series SOLiD sequencers and offers enhanced and secure project management capabilities. Future releases in early 2011 will support analysis of data from the Ion Torrent PGM and other instrument platforms.