Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation, announced the launch of a new sequencing-based genomics tool to advance the analysis of whole transcriptomes. The SOLiD Whole Transcriptome Analysis Kit is the latest addition to a leading suite of reagents, optimized for use with the SOLiD System. This new kit enables the detailed characterization of all expressed RNA in biological samples, allowing scientists to better understand a variety of cell types such as stem cells and cancer.

The SOLiD Whole Transcriptome Analysis Kit provides researchers with an optimized, end-to-end solution that enables the hypothesis-neutral analysis of gene expression profiles in the entire transcriptome, which is the set of all messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules - or transcripts - produced in only one, or an entire population of cells. This solution combines best-in-class Ambion reagents from Life Technologies' Invitrogen brand with the SOLiD System, Applied Biosystems' leading platform for next-generation genomic analysis. These complete solutions, based on the SOLiD System, are driving further adoption of next-generation sequencing through expanded utility for a variety of applications.

This solution is uniquely capable of generating the highest number of sequence reads per run, enabling researchers to analyze multiple samples in a single experiment, while maintaining the highest-levels of sensitivity to comprehensively characterize the transcriptome. The detection of all known and novel RNA present in biological samples is critical to understanding biological response to stimuli or environmental changes. This ultra high-throughput, sequencing-based approach has numerous advancements over alternative methods such as traditional DNA microarrays, which are unable to detect RNA transcripts expressed at low levels, novel RNA transcripts, or splice variants.

This approach for transcriptome analysis is being utilized by a team of scientists at the Beijing Institute of Genomics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They are using nine SOLiD Systems to explore the expression profiles of multiple tissues and cells in human, mouse, rice and microbes. The kit provides researchers greater insight into biological pathways and molecular mechanisms that regulate cell-fate decision, development and disease progression.

Dr Songnian Hu, assistant director at Beijing Institute of Genomics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said, "We recently utilized the whole transcriptome kit to sequence the entire transcriptome of mouse embryonic stem cells and discovered that the sequencing-based method detected 30 per cent more genes than a traditional microarray approach. Our SOLiD System data provided insights into the molecular mechanism of embryonic stem cell pluripotency, which is critical to understanding the differentiation of specific cell types, including cancer cells."

Kip Miller, president of Life Technologies' Genetic Systems Division said, "We believe next-generation sequencing technology will replace the traditional microarray technology for whole transcriptome research projects within the next two years. The Applied Biosystems SOLiD technology offers an optimized, integrated solution for the advancement of whole transcriptome analysis, resulting in the highest number of reads per run, providing researchers the required sensitivity to detect rare transcripts, as well as the flexibility to analyze multiple samples to advance important cancer and stem cell research."

Applied Biosystems is a global leader in providing innovative instrument systems to accelerate academic and clinical research, drug discovery and development, pathogen detection and forensic DNA analysis.

Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition.