Rubicon Genomics Adds New Distributors For DNA Library Prep Kits
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) -- Rubicon Genomics Inc. announced that it has partnered with additional distributors to expand availability of its DNA library preparation products, including its ThruPLEX-FD Prep Kits and PicoPLEX DNA-seq Kits for use with Illumina next-generation sequencing systems.
The new distributors include GenoMax Technologies for Singapore and Malaysia, BioChemMack for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan and D-Mark Biosciences for Canada.
Rubicon CEO James Koziarz said there's evidence of the advantages of the company's kits in the fact that they've been cited in four publications in the last six months in the scholarly publication Nature.
With the new distributors, Koziarz said, "Researchers will now have easier access to our technology, which provides new capabilities and efficiencies for NGS sequencing in a variety of applications."
Rubicon makes products that "amplify" tiny quantities of DNA so they can be used in medical testing -- quantities as small as a picogram, or a trillionth of a gram.
In one study, scientists used Rubicon's ThruPlex FD (fragmented DNA) test kit to conduct a biopsy of cancer from cancer DNA in a patient's bodily fluids, providing an easier way to test how the tumor would react to various cancer drugs.
ThruPlex allows amplification of DNA that can be analyzed by the market leader in DNA analysis machines, from California-based Illumina. Rubicon is also working on technology that would adapt to another maker of DNA analyzers, Life Technologies.
In another study, University of Washington researchers took DNA from a fetus that they captured in the mother's body fluids, and sequenced it to test the DNA of the fetus for abnormalities without having to invade the amniotic fluid around the fetus.
Rubicon made the announcement in preparation for Analytica 2014, the 24th International Trade Fair for Laboratory Technology, being held April 1-4 in Munich, Germany. For more information visit www.analytica-world.com/en/events/30246/analytica-2014.html
More information on Rubicon's distributors can be found at: http://rubicongenomics.com/how-to-buy/distributors/.