Meridian Launches New Air-Dryable qPCR Mix Enabling Direct Detection of RNA from Whole Blood Samples

Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH, USA) has launched its new Air-Dryable Direct RNA/DNA qPCR Blood Mix, an innovative master mix designed to develop room-temperature stable molecular diagnostic assays that directly amplify RNA from crude whole blood, serum, or plasma.

The new offering adds to the innovative portfolio of sample-specific master mixes that Meridian has created to help molecular diagnostic manufacturers develop assays faster. The ability of qPCR to screen directly from blood samples provides faster and highly sensitive detection of viral infections such as HIV, HBV, or HCV, but also bacterial infections, hereditary diseases, and forensic analyses. Blood can also be used as a non-invasive liquid biopsy for examining circulating tumor DNA, RNA, or cells, which is essential in cancer management, allowing prognosis, diagnosis, and monitoring following treatment. However, PCR inhibitors often found in blood samples can produce false-negative results or reduced limit-of-detection (LOD) unless costly and time-consuming DNA/RNA purification is used.

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Meridian's new Air-Dryable Direct RNA/DNA qPCR Blood Mix can be used on crude samples and eliminates the need for an extraction step. It uses specialized enzymes and an advanced buffer formulation pre-optimized specifically for whole blood, serum, and plasma. The blood master mix was designed to be compatible with air-drying in an oven while maintaining the highest activity and sensitivity. Air-Dryable technology replaces the need for lyophilization with fast, simple, and inexpensive oven-drying procedures, making it ideal for manufacturing room-temperature stable, highly sensitive, and cost-effective molecular diagnostic assays.

"The Air-Dryable Direct RNA/DNA qPCR Blood Mix provides a diagnostic developer with a ready to use master mix that has already addressed all the complex inhibitors present in blood, allowing for the development of simpler and faster assays," said Diane Szydel, Vice President, Global Life Science Commercial Operations at Meridian. "In addition, Meridian's air-dryable technology overcomes the time and cost associated with cold storage or lyophilization, allowing manufacturers full control of their entire manufacturing workflow."

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