INDIANAPOLIS,
March 31, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced
today the introduction of a new protein melting application for its
high-throughput, real-time PCR LightCycler® 1536 instrument. The
fully automated platform now allows life science researchers to
perform thermal shift assays (TSAs) in 1536-well applications
quickly and consistently. This new application has relevance for
biotech and pharmaceutical firms, Contract Research Organizations
and large academic research groups.
Previewed at the recent Society for Laboratory Automation and
Screening (SLAS) 2015 conference in Washington, DC, the new capability makes the
LightCycler 1536 instrument the first 1536-well PCR instrument
capable of performing thermal shift assays.
"Now researchers who currently run protein thermal shift assays
on Roche's LightCycler 480 instrument, using 96- or 384-well
throughput, can also run these reactions on the LightCycler 1536
instrument," said Rama Badugu, PhD, application support consultant,
Roche Life Science. "That enables them to increase throughput while
reducing the amount of protein used in the reaction, which is a key
benefit of the LightCycler platform."
An optimal reaction for protein melting requires a reliable heat
source and detection without time delays before reading the
fluorescence of the plate. The proprietary Therma-Base technology
that is common to LightCycler instruments allows for uniform
temperature distribution across the block, without any intermediate
hold times. LightCycler instruments can heat as quickly as 4.8
degrees Celsius per second, which improves speed and accuracy in
protein melt results.
About the LightCycler 1536 instrument
The LightCycler
1536 instrument is a rapid, high-throughput, plate-based real-time
PCR amplification and detection system. Its architecture is built
upon the established LightCycler 480 platform, which combines a
high-performance optical unit and block cycler technology. It is
the only plate-based real-time PCR instrument that generates 1,536
data points in a single PCR run in less than 50 minutes. The
LightCycler 1536 is also the first 1536-well plate-based real-time
PCR platform that is capable of producing data for high-throughput
gene expression profiling, thermal shift assays and high-throughput
genotyping. For more information, visit go.roche.com/lc1536.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in
research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest
biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology,
immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and neuroscience.
Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and
tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes
management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at
providing medicines and diagnostics that enable tangible
improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of
patients. Founded in 1896, Roche has been making important
contributions to global health for more than a century. Twenty-four
medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health
Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them
life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and chemotherapy.
In 2014, the Roche Group employed 88,500 people worldwide,
invested 8.9 billion Swiss francs in
R&D and posted sales of 47.5 billion
Swiss francs. Genentech, in the
United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group.
Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical,
Japan. For more information,
please visit www.roche.com or www.usdiagnostics.roche.com.
All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected
by law.
For life science research only. Not for use in diagnostic
procedures.
For further information, please contact:
Roche Diagnostics Corporation
Mike Weist
Communications Business Partner
(317) 521-3112
mike.weist@roche.com
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SOURCE Roche Diagnostics