Fluidigm Corporation has announced the placement of BioMark(TM)
Real-time PCR Systems in high-profile R&D organizations. Among recent
adopters are MedImmune, Inc., in Gaithersburg, Maryland; Eisai Co.,
Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan; and the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Quake, a
Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute lab, at Stanford University,
in Stanford, California.
Microplate-based systems are the norm for real-time PCR, but the
BioMark system uses nanofluidic chips known as dynamic arrays. Dynamic
arrays represent a fundamentally new format for the process,
assembling PCRs within an integrated fluidic circuit, with channels
and valves to regulate fluids. Nothing epitomizes the efficiency of
chips more than an image of 24 96-well plates stacked next to just one
dynamic array. Both the plates and the single chip generate 2,304 data
points, but the chip does so with only 96 pipetting steps (48
primer-probe sets and 48 samples) compared to the 4,608 steps required
with plates.
"When we consider our customers' diverse applications and
ambitious plans," said Fluidigm CEO Gajus Worthington, "we believe the
day will soon come when old plates piled high on the bench will be a
thing of the past."
While the BioMark system runs dynamic arrays primarily for
transcript profiling and for generating dose response curves, it also
runs other chips, such as the digital array. The digital array is
useful for early detection and monitoring of cancers and as a uniquely
sensitive method to detect and quantify single base pair mutations.
For more information on the BioMark system, including dynamic
arrays and digital arrays, as well as thermal cycling and detection
instrumentation, please visit www.fluidigm.com.
About Fluidigm Corporation
Fluidigm Corporation develops and distributes systems based on the
unique properties of integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) to precisely
control fluids on a nanoliter volume scale. The Company's vision is to
create and to lead a new industry in which IFCs bring unparalleled
efficiencies to the life science and allied fields. Based in South San
Francisco, California, the Company is privately held and backed by
premier investors: Versant Ventures, Euclid SR Partners, InterWest
Partners, Alloy Ventures, Lehman Brothers Healthcare Fund, Bio*One
Capital, Bruce Burrows, Lilly BioVentures, the Invus Group, SightLine
Partners, AllianceBernstein, Wasatch Advisors and its affiliate, Cross
Creek Capital, and GE Equity.
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