QIAGEN's BioRobot 9604
A tremendous amount of gene sequence data is now available due to the efforts of many independent labs and the Human Genome Project. Armed with this information, scientists are now focusing on gene function and expression studies. In particular, examination of the effects of various experimental conditions on levels of gene expression has become an important discipline for academic and pharmaceutical labs working in molecular diagnostic, drug screening, and lead optimization areas.

Ideally, gene expression assays are fast, sensitive, accurate, reproducible, and amenable to high-throughput automation. A common scenario entails testing the effects of new drug derivatives on cultured cells by analyzing the transcript levels of a gene of interest in time-course and dose-response experiments. A typical analytical procedure includes cell lysis, RNA purification, expression analysis such as real-time PCR, and data interpretation.

A fast and reliable method for purifying high-quality RNA from a large number of...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!