Innovative Chip-in-a-Tube Technology to Simplify Digital PCR Procedures

An advanced chip-in-a-tube, digital PCR system will soon be available for use by biotech and other life science laboratories involved in nucleic acid research.

JN Medsys (Singapore) introduced the Clarity digital PCR system at the American Society for Human Genetics exhibition that was held October 19–21, 2014, in San Diego (CA, USA).

The system features tube strips based on an innovative chip-in-a-tube design and a dedicated tube strip reader. The tube strip format simplifies the cumbersome workflow typically associated with digital PCR by making it quick and easy to load, partition, thermal cycle, and detect reaction products. The unique chip-in-a-tube design combines the robustness of chip-based partitioning with the ease-of-use of a tube strip. Each PCR mix is rapidly subdivided into 10,000 partitions by a high-density chip within each tube. The high-density chip allows a large number of partitions to exist within the small confines of a PCR tube. Partitioning can be completed within one minute and is done in-tube without additional equipment or multiple pipetting steps. Up to eight reactions can be run in parallel to yield 80,000 partitions per tube strip. Clarity tube strips are compatible with conventional thermal cyclers to allow up to 96 digital PCR reactions per run.

Designed to work with the tube strips, the Clarity Reader detects fluorescent signals from every single partition of the digital PCR reactions with high sensitivity. Unlike droplet-based systems, partitions in each tube are detected concurrently, saving time and allowing tube strips to be read in just minutes. Closed tube format prevents cross contamination among reactions. Walk away operation allows multiple reactions to be read automatically with no user intervention, providing an easy workflow for high throughput digital PCR experiments.

Dr. Johnson Ng, CEO of JN Medsys, said, “Right from the start, we wanted to develop a product that would transform the way digital PCR was carried out. Our aim is to remove all barriers to digital PCR so that more scientists can have access to this powerful technology, and harness it to develop better tests for diseases like cancer or infectious diseases, and to improve the lives of people. We want our Clarity digital PCR system to be the platform technology that enables that. Our purpose at JN Medsys is to make lives better through providing superior products and outstanding service to our community.”

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