Agilent Technologies Launches One-Step Setup RT-PCR Kit for Cloning, Gene Expression and Quantification

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced availability of the AffinityScript One-Step RT-PCR Kit. The launch of the AffinityScript One-Step RT-PCR Kit represents a re-entry into the one-step RT-PCR market for Agilent’s Stratagene Products Division with a market-leading solution for researchers performing end-point RT-PCR.

The AffinityScript One-Step RT-PCR Kit is a high-performance system for convenient, high-throughput RT-PCR in a one-step reaction. The kit is ideal for rapid, easy one-step set-up for RT-PCR, and the simple format eliminates the potential for contamination when preparing multiple or high-throughput reactions. The kit targets researchers performing end-point RT-PCR reactions and provides high product yields and fidelity for applications such as cloning, gene detection, and quantification.

“This is the only RT-PCR kit on the market with fusion enzyme-based technology, enabling faster extension times, substantially reduced time-to-results, and increased sample throughput without compromising amplicon yields and template input sensitivity,” said Nick Price, Ph.D., product manager at Agilent Technologies.

The kit consists of AffinityScript RT and Herculase II Fusion DNA polymerase enabling multi-temperature RT, with higher activity than the leading competitor’s kits at all temperatures, and a robust amplification step to generate higher yields of cDNA with amplicons ranging from 500 bp to 9.6 kb.

AffinityScript RT can reverse transcribe RNA with high yield over a broad temperature range (37-55 C) for first strand cDNA synthesis. The use of AffinityScript RT enables cDNA synthesis across a broad incubation temperature range up to 55 C, which enables reverse transcription though RNA secondary structure, including difficult and GC-rich targets, enhancing the amplification of difficult RT-PCR targets and ensuring high cDNA synthesis yields from all RNA targets. By combining the AffinityScript with Herculase II Fusion DNA polymerase, researchers obtain superior yields with equivalent fidelity to Pfu DNA polymerase (6X higher fidelity than Taq), but faster cycling time.
About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company’s 17,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $4.5 billion in fiscal 2009. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.