Tuesday, September 23, 2008

PCR directly from blood

In the past year a major hurdle in PCR seems to have been conquered. Blood is an easy and source for all types of genetic testing, however the presence of inhibitors requires the extraction of DNA prior to performing PCR. Many labs have to store the genetic material for archiving purposes, and so DNA extraction seems a logical way to proceed. However, at least two companies have figured out a way of performing PCR directly from blood, and one of these can actually do it from archived blood on guthrie cards. The first comany, Finnzymes uses the phusion enzyme developed by MJ Research's R&D unit MJ Bioworks to amplify directly from blood and tissue. The second, Kapa Biosystems, uses a novel DNA polymerase that can do the same thing, but also from guthrie cards.

In addition to these enzymes, some companies have developed buffers that give limited success. These include Klentaq, and Epicenter. Kapa still seems to have the widest use, as it can be used in EDTA blood (which by it's nature would normally chelate the Magnesium). It looks like genetic engineering of these proteins will simplify further genetic analysis for all of us.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We used the Kapa Blood and the Kapa 2G FAST Hot Start DNA polymerase. Both worked on guthrie cards, but the 2G FAST gave better yields for EDTA blood. I have to say, both are really quite amazing though.

Anonymous said...

Is there a difference between the Bio-Rad iProof and Finnzymes Phusion? Both claim to be made by Finnzymes and developed by MJ Research, but at least I see the bio-rad rep to help out with Phusion.

Anonymous said...

The patents for Phusion are owned by Bio-Rad. They got this when they purchased MJ, who sold it under the same Phusion, but Bio-Rad re-branded it iProof. Finnzymes has the rights to the name Phusion, and the rights to manufacture and sell it. They sell through NEB.

Anonymous said...

Finnzymes used to make all of the MJ research enzymes, including Phusion. After Bio-Rad bought MJ Research, Finnzymes contined to make it, and had the rights to the Phusion name. Now Bio-Rad sells Phusion as iProof, and Finnzymes sells Phusion through NEB. NEB has been working on its own Blood kit.

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