We have a new publication! This article, published in Analytical Chemistry, presents the scientific principles of our new digital PCR method. Our approach is based on binding all nucleic acids present in a sample to our magnetic nanoreactor beads (mNRBs). These serve both as a high-capacity binding matrix for the uptake of nucleic acids from a sample and as compartments for PCR amplification of individual nucleic acid targets.
The Beads themselves consist of an agarose core matrix combined with a cross-linked chitosan with embedded magnetic particles. Chitosan has been shown to be effective for nucleic acid capture.
"Direct comparison with the ddPCR method show good agreement of the results obtained with mNRBs with respect to target concentration measurements, while requiring only a fraction of the time."
In this paper we compared our new bead-based approach with conventional droplet digital PCR and found performance to be equivalent in terms of the precision and linearity of quantification. In addition, we demonstrated that mNRBs provide quantitative capture and loss-free analysis of nucleic acids contained in samples in different volumes.
We have demonstrated that the Beads offer many advantages for dPCR, namely a microfluidics-free workflow, they are easy to handle, provide sample volume flexibility and the potential for automation in laboratory workflows.
"Unlike conventional dPCR, this approach does not require a precise determination of the volume of the compartments used but only their number to calculate the number of amplified targets."
READ PAPER: DNA-Binding Magnetic Nanoreactor Beads for Digital PCR Analysis