New England Biolabs® Introduces New Ribosomal RNA Depletion Technology from Genomic Health

IPSWICH, Mass., Aug. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB^®) today announced that NEB has exclusively in-licensed rights from Genomic Health, Inc. to its technology for the depletion of abundant RNAs, which is instrumental to performing sensitive RNA-seq experiments at a lower cost.

Ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) are extremely abundant, constituting approximately 90% of total RNA. For RNA sequencing experiments to be practical and cost-effective, rRNAs must be removed from the sample in order to focus on the RNA molecules of interest. This can be especially challenging for low input and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) RNA samples - a problem that is addressed by Genomic Health's technology, which uses RNase H-based depletion.  The NEBNext^® rRNA Depletion Kit (Human/Mouse/Rat) is the first NEB product based on this technology, and is highly effective for FFPE RNA samples as well as high-quality RNA samples.

In conjunction with NEB's other innovations for next generation sequencing (NGS), including the NEBNext Ultra™ kits and adaptors, this technology further strengthens NEB's position as a key provider of quality products and support to the NGS community.

"We are excited about this agreement with Genomic Health and are pleased to offer their technology as a new NEB product. The NEBNext rRNA Depletion Kit exhibits efficient removal of these abundant RNAs, reducing the number of sequencing runs required and, ultimately, the overall cost of sequencing," said Fiona Stewart, Ph.D., NEB's Next Generation Sequencing Product Marketing Manager. "Additionally, the kit incorporates a streamlined workflow, and is optimized for inputs as low as 10 ng total RNA. Perhaps most exciting is the exceptional performance of this kit with FFPE RNA samples, for which rRNA removal has historically been very challenging. We look forward to releasing additional products based on this technology and are delighted to make them available to our customers to improve their RNA-seq analyses."

NEBNext products are a series of highly pure and cost-effective reagents that facilitate DNA and RNA library preparation for next generation sequencing. The innovative NEBNext product line includes the Ultra Library Prep kits for DNA and RNA, which address the increasing need for fast and robust performance, and also allow the use of low-nanogram amounts of input DNA or RNA – ensuring optimal data quality with flexible workflows.

For more information on NEBNext reagents for library preparation, visit NEBNext.com.

^{New England Biolabs, NEB, and NEBNEXT® is a registered trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.
Ultra™ is a trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.}

About New England Biolabs

Established in the mid 1970's, New England Biolabs, Inc. is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, library preparation for next generation sequencing, cellular analysis, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and seven subsidiaries located in Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs visit www.neb.com.

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SOURCE New England Biolabs, Inc.