Innovative technologies from QIAGEN

About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands holding company with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy, Australia, Norway, Austria, Canada, Sweden, and the Netherlands believes it is the world's leading provider of innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins. QIAGEN has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 320 proprietary, consumable products for nucleic acid and protein separation, purification, and handling, and nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products, and related services. QIAGEN's products are sold in more than 42 countries throughout the world to academic research markets and to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, QIAGEN is positioning its products for sale into developing commercial markets, including applied testing markets, clinical research, nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostics, and genetic vaccination and gene therapy.

With more than 1,500 employees in thirteen countries and an international management team, QIAGEN is truly committed to the global biotechnology market. QIAGEN products are supported by a dedicated field sales force of approximately 500 people located in eleven home countries, plus a global network of distributors which serves more than 42 countries. This close customer contact ensures that QIAGEN remains on the cutting edge of new technologies and market needs that feed into the product development system.

QIAGEN continually expands and develops the range of products and services available to incorporate newly developing technologies and to facilitate research and discovery in the fast-moving life sciences area. Recent developments include exciting new products for RNAi, gene expression analysis, whole genome amplification, proteomics, and automation.

GeneGlobe — the world’s largest database of matching siRNA and RT-PCR assays
QIAGEN has created GeneGlobe, an easy-to-use, comprehensive Web portal to find information about, search for, and order genomewide solutions for gene silencing and expression analysis ( www.qiagen.com/GeneGlobe ). Finding a potent siRNA and a matching, ready-to-use primer pair for quantitative RT-PCR using SYBR® Green detection has never been easier. After entering the name of the target gene or another keyword in the GeneGlobe search page, all available products appear in a results page.

Potent, specific siRNAs are available for every human, mouse, and rat gene. siRNAs are designed using the innovative HiPerformance siRNA Design Algorithm, licensed from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, ensuring highly effective knockdown. Searches are carried out using a proprietary homology analysis tool to ensure that the siRNA sequence does not have homology to an unintended target. Thousands of siRNAs have been functionally tested by quantitative, real-time RT-PCR using QuantiTect® Primer Assays and proven to provide high knockdown.

QuantiTect Primer Assays are ready-to-use, validated primer pairs for SYBR Green based real-time RT-PCR. QuantiTect Primer Assays guarantee high specificity and sensitivity in real-time RT-PCR when used in combination with QuantiTect SYBR Green Kits for one-step or two-step RT-PCR. Reproducible results are obtained over a wide linear range. The assays are designed to detect RNA only where possible, while the kits prevent the formation of primer–dimers and nonspecific PCR products. Assays are available for human, mouse, rat, Arabidopsis, Drosophila, chicken, and dog genes, with more species to follow.

Matching siRNA and primer pairs have been tested in combination for optimal performance and functionality, ensuring the success of the whole RNAi workflow from knockdown to downstream analysis. The unique combination of siRNA and perfectly matching RT-PCR assays eliminates the need to repeatedly design, synthesize, and test siRNA and primers.

Complementary integrated solutions, such as HiPerFect Transfection Reagent for transfection of low siRNA concentrations and the FastLane Cell cDNA Kit for rapid cDNA preparation directly from cells are also available at GeneGlobe.

Copying whole genomes from small or precious samples
Genetic analyses often require large amounts of genomic DNA. Since the availability of DNA from individual genomes can be limited, accurate replication of large amounts of high-quality genomic DNA is required. QIAGEN’s REPLI-g® Kits and Service use multiple displacement amplification (MDA) to overcome the limitations of small amounts of template DNA. REPLI-g amplified DNA (unlike DNA from PCR-based whole genome amplification protocols) is characterized by uniform locus representation, low error rates, and large fragment sizes. Reproducible, high yields of DNA can be obtained from various clinical and non-clinical research samples, including genomic DNA, whole blood, dried blood spots, cells, buccal swabs, tissue, and more. A uniform yield of amplified DNA is usually achieved regardless of the quantity of template DNA, enabling immediate downstream genetic analysis, including SNP genotyping, STR analysis, Southern blotting and RFLP analysis, subcloning, and DNA sequencing. Whole genome amplification using REPLI-g Kits has been tested and evaluated for use with all common genotyping platforms, including high-throughput genotyping platforms.

Making the proteome more manageable
A major problem facing protein researchers is the sheer complexity of the proteome. Purification and quantification of low-abundance proteins is especially challenging. To address these issues, QIAGEN has used its expertise in sample preparation to develop the Qproteome™ range of kits for standardized and reproducible protein fractionation and depletion.

These easy-to-use protein sample preparation kits provide highly reproducible fractionation of protein samples, enabling enrichment of target proteins and the reduction of “background” proteins. This enrichment greatly facilitates analysis of low-abundance species or the separation of isoforms (e.g., phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms). The wide range of kits offers protein separation according to different criteria, including cellular location, and phosphorylation or glycosylation status.

A complete automated solution for systems biology
In systems biology, results are only as accurate as the sample purification and reaction setup methods. Through standardized processing with optimized protocols, the BioRobot® Universal System delivers precise, highly reproducible results the first time, every time. The system integrates all the instrumentation, software, purification technologies, and enzyme technologies that are required for high-throughput systems biology applications. Application Packs are now available for gene expression analysis and genotyping applications, with protein and sequencing applications to follow.

The BioRobot Universal System enables fully automated purification of highly pure RNA from a range of sample types including blood (collected in PAXgene™ Blood RNA Tubes), tissues, and cells plus RT-PCR setup in 96 well format. The system also enables purification of high-quality genomic DNA from up to 192 buccal swab samples. Fully automated protocols provide reliable and flexible PCR setup in 96-well format. Highly standardized processing enables reproducible results between experiments and labs.