2nd qPCR and Digital PCR Congress 2014, London

Bioline are pleased to be sponsoring and exhibiting at the 2nd qPCR and Digital PCR Congress in London, England on 20th and 21st October.

The meeting brings together key opinion leaders from industry and academia, and covers a range of important topics in real-time PCR, including:

• MIQE guidelines and standardization
• Quality control of real-time PCR assays
• Real-time PCR assay design, optimisation and validation
• Pathogen detection and quantification
• Sample preparation and quality control
• Single cell expression analysis
• Clinical and drug development applications
• miRNA, ncRNA, siRNA applications
• Bioinformatics and data analysis

Case studies in infectious diseases, vaccines, cancer, prenatal diagnosis, diagnostic and clinical applications, microbiology, food microbiology, plant and ecological genomics, as well as other novel applications will be presented.

A special session at the congress will be devoted to plant breeding, plant genomics and applied food and plant pathogen testing:

• Plant and ecological genomics
• Detection and identification of plant pathogens
• Gene expression analysis
• Real-time PCR in food research
• Food safety
• Genetically modified organism (GMO) quantification in food

Bioline maintains a significant real-time PCR research and development facility based in London, the heart of the MedCity biocluster for life science, which includes the new Francis Crick Institute.

See our Your Partner for Plant Research microsite to learn about some of our best tools to enhance your plant research experiments, and download our Plant Research Solutions Guide.

We will be showcasing our latest real-time PCR technological developments at the congress, including the new SensiFAST cDNA Synthesis Kit, a fast, easy-to-use method of generating the highest quality cDNA for highly accurate real-time PCR results.

Bioline will also be highlighting our industrial capabilities for custom manufacturing, including enzymes, buffer chemistries, dyes and internal controls for a wide range of applications from plant genotyping, agribiotech, pathogen testing and cancer research, to biomarkers and diagnostics research.

Our friendly team of real-time PCR specialists will be on-hand at our exhibition booth throughout the event and glad to answer your queries and discuss your research requirements.

For further details of speakers and topics, please see the Global Engage qPCR & Digital PCR Congress Agenda .

We look forward to seeing you at the 2014 congress.

Bioline’s Gem of an iGEM Offer is Back for iGEM2014!

Bioline is proud once again to offer its support to teams participating in the 2014 round of the annual iGEM competition. Teams supported by Bioline in previous years have won gold medals and advanced to the finals of the iGEM World Championships.

For a limited time only, all iGEM teams in the United Kingdom can take advantage of up to 40% off already highly-competitive Bioline list prices across our entire product range.

The Must-Have Bioline Toolbox for iGEM Researchers

Popular tools used by successful iGEM teams around the world include:

• Bioline Competent Cells and Cloning Reagents — Transform plasmids from the iGEM kit plates with Bioline’s extremely efficient alpha-select silver or gold efficiency cells.

We used bioline cells but didn’t follow the protocols because the cells were more competent so didn’t need to go through heat shock.— Boston iGEM 2012 Team

We also supply a handy range of antibiotics, SOC medium and a rather nifty quick stick ligase for both cohesive and blunt end cloning.

• MyTaq™ HS — Use MyTaq HS to amplify DNA from your minipreps in as little as 30 minutes, or amplify directly from your colonies! See the MyTaq colony PCR application note or this SOP written by the Danish iGEM2013 team.
• ISOLATE II Plasmid Mini Kit — Pure and very high DNA yields from your transformed colonies.
• VELOCITY DNA Polymerase — Perfect for all your high-fidelity applications.
• HyperLadder™ DNA Markers — Our hugely popular range of markers for DNA sizing, as used by Craig Venter’s research team!
• Real-time PCR Kits — Tried and trusted SensiFAST kits for gene expression analysis.
• Core Reagents — High quality buffers, agarose and other essentials.

All Bioline products are backed by our friendly and helpful UK based technical support staff, should you need it!

To request full details of our Gem of an iGEM Offer pricing plan, please contact your local Bioline UK account manager using our Rep Finder tool. Then, why not let your fellow iGem researchers know about this great offer using the sharing links below. Also feel free to Tweet or email us if you have any further questions

We look forward to hearing from you soon and we wish all iGEM2014 entrants every success in this year’s competition!

PS: You can also read about Bioline’s Synthetic Biology industry partnership with Liverpool Life Sciences UTC, the first school in the United Kingdom specialising in Science and Health Care for 14 to 19 year olds.

Terms and Conditions
This offer is valid on any product in our range for any iGEM team in the United Kingdom. No minimum or maximum spend to qualify for the discount. Expires on October 31, 2014. Not valid with any other promo codes or special offers. Please contact us for details of discounts available to iGEM teams in the United States, Germany, France, Singapore and Australia. Bioline products are also available through our carefully selected distributor partners.

Join Bioline at Analytica 2014 – Stand 516, Hall A3

Are you a scientist at the leading edge of biological discovery? Then join Bioline at the Analytica International Trade Fair in Munich, April 1-4, 2014.

Visit us on stand 516 in Hall A3 to explore our research solutions for gene expression and genotyping studies. Discover how our innovative products help you to achieve better and more accurate results.

This year we’ll be showcasing our new products SensiFAST™ cDNA Synthesis Kit, the unmatched MyTaq™ Blood PCR Kit, and the latest addition to our range, EPIK™ Kits for Epigenetics research and analysis.

Four live talks a day at Analytica 2014

We’ll be hosting live talks on the stand on all four days of the event, covering gene expression and cDNA synthesis, high-sensitivity qPCR, Bisulfite PCR, and all the latest innovations in Direct PCR.

Attend one of our talks most suited to your research, find out why Bioline is the perfect partner for your research, AND receive a free Bioline T-shirt!

10:30am — Superior Gene Expression
Improvements in cDNA Synthesis for qPCR
Better Reproducibility • Better Representation • Better Results

12:00pm — Sensitivity Matters
SensiFAST™: The Most Powerful qPCR Mix
Better Data • Better Results • Better Science
Exceed the Limit

2:00pm — Extreme PCR
Problems Solved with MyFi™ and MyTaq™
Bisulfite PCR with the new EPIK™ for Epigenetics kits
Bringing Reliability to Epigenetics

4:00pm — Latest Innovations in Direct PCR
New MyTaq™ Extract-PCR and MyTaq™ Blood PCR Kits
Learn more about the most sensitive genotyping kits around

We very much look forward to meeting with you at Analytica 2014!

Bioline at BioTechnica 2013 – Delivering the latest in direct PCR amplification innovations

Bioline: The PCR Company, a global leader in molecular biology innovation, will be exhibiting (Hall, 9, Stand D26) and presenting (Hall 9, Stand F69) at Europe’s leading life science, biotechnology and laboratory show, BioTechnica 2013 (8-10 October, Hannover, Germany). Our Senior Global Product Manager, Dr. Steve Hawkins, will discuss the evolution of direct PCR amplification technologies as part of the prestigious Biotechnica Innovation Forum.

The recent increased focus on innovation in biotechnology and medical diagnostics within the world of life sciences has led to important advances in molecular detection and biomedicine. Bioline is proud to be at the forefront of some of the key developments in PCR technologies that are actively accelerating the pace and success of research for scientists around the world.

Analysis of DNA from blood: Technical challenges

Molecular screening of blood samples for blood-borne pathogens, blood cell irregularities and blood group genotyping is a routinely performed process, but can be fraught with stumbling blocks. Some of the key concerns when using PCR to analyse DNA isolated from blood cells include the potential for false-negatives, or poor results that arise from a lack of sensitivity induced by the presence of PCR inhibitors in blood. Common reaction inhibitors include hemoglobin, IgG, lactoferrin, proteases, anticoagulants and salts.

Fast PCR, direct from whole blood, without compromise

Our presentation at the Biotechnica 2013 Innovation Forum is titled ‘Fast PCR, Direct From Whole Blood, Without Compromise’. The talk will provide an overview of how technical challenges from direct PCR amplification of blood samples can be overcome using the very latest in direct PCR developments. We will outline an extremely rapid workflow that is specially engineered to overcome various PCR inhibitors typically present in whole blood samples that remove the need for pre-treatment or DNA isolation.

Ultra-fast PCR protocols specially developed to deliver significantly increased sensitivity and PCR success rates, without compromising quality and yield, will also be covered. We will also show how the speed and specificity of these techniques discussed make them the perfect solutions for performing high-throughput end-point multiplex PCR direct from whole blood.

Further details of our upcoming presentation at the Innovation Forum can be found on the Biotechnica 2013 web site.

Visit the brand new Bioline booth at Biotechnica 2013

Throughout the three days of Biotechnica 2013, we’ll be presenting all the latest innovations across our endpoint-PCR and real-time PCR product lines. If you’re attending, you’ll find the brand new Bioline stand in Hall 9, Stand D26 where you will also be able to enter our iPad prize draw. We invite you to experience the power of the latest in life science innovation with Bioline and look forward to seeing you there.

Hands-on Real-Time qPCR Workshop at Birkbeck, sponsored by Bioline

Quantifying nucleic acids by Real-Time qPCR
Hosted by
4^th-5^th September 2013, Birkbeck, University of London

Register now for a two-day, hands-on workshop sponsored by Bioline: The PCR Company that teaches you the core principles of qPCR and focuses on the practical steps required to design, set-up, validate and analyse Real-Time qPCR assays.

Teaching format: The workshop will focus on practical work by participants. Each session is prefaced by a brief lecture, with the timetable organised to encourage interaction, questions and discussion.

Suitable for: Researchers in academia, research institutes and the pharmaceutical and biotech industries who already have some familiarity with basic PCR principles.

Workshop venue: Birkbeck, University of London, in modern teaching labs in the heart of Bloomsbury, a short walk from Euston mainline station & several underground stations.

Workshop tutors: Dr David Sugden and Dr Patricia de Winter.

See full workshop details and register online.

Bioline is a leader in high-performance Real-Time qPCR reagents. To find out more about how Bioline SensiFAST™ Real-Time qPCR reagents can benefit your research, just visit bioline.com.

Synthetic biology innovation, building BioBricks with Bioline

The 6^th International Meeting on Synthetic Biology (hashtag: #SB6Conf), the world’s foremost synthetic biology (SynBio) meeting, is currently running in London, organised by the BioBricks Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

BioBricks Foundation SB6.0 Co-Chairs include Professor Paul Freemont and Professor Richard Kitney of Imperial College, who will lead a new £10 million innovation and knowledge centre, to be called SynbiCITE, aimed at providing a bridge between academia and industry and announced at the conference by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.

Imperial College is home to the UK Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation a £9m investment aimed at propelling the synthetic biology field forward and promoting SynBio start-ups. International collaboration and networking are important aspects of the meeting, along with poster presentations and ‘lightning talks’ from world leaders in the field of SynBio research.

David Willets said:

“Synthetic biology has huge potential for our economy and society in so many areas, from life sciences to agriculture. But to realise this potential we need to ensure researchers and business work together. This new Innovation and Knowledge Centre will help advance scientific knowledge and turn cutting edge research into commercial success.”

Professor Richard Kitney, co-academic of SynbiCITE added:

“Synthetic Biology could be the next ‘industrial revolution’ for the UK, where tiny devices manufactured from cells are used by us to improve many facets of our lives. From producing new, more sustainable fuels to developing devices that can monitor or improve our health, the applications in this field are limitless.”

The exciting and emerging field of Synthetic Biology research combines the disciplines of engineering and molecular biology to design and build novel, biologically-based parts, devices, and sensors, as well as the re-engineering of existing, natural biological organisms. Synthetic Biology has the potential to deliver important new applications, from detecting the early onset of disease and improving existing industrial processes, food production, green fuels, and developing therapies to fight harmful bacterial infections or cancers.

Much of the future success of synthetic biology is incumbent upon the development of standardized SynBio components that can be combined in predictable and repeatable ways. The precise approach used when fabricating a BioBrick component depends on the fabrication method (PCR or direct synthesis) as well as the type of part being constructed (a standard part or protein coding sequence).

SyntheticBiology.org maintains a nice introduction to Synthetic Biology as well as a useful how-to guide on the subject of constructing novel BioBrick parts for submission to the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.

Bioline makes it easy to harness the power of new generation enzymes to create parts for BioBricks using PCR. We manufacture and supply a range of high-performance PCR and molecular biology cloning tools, enabling researchers to drive their synthetic biology projects forward. Some of our most popular, most frequently used products for leading synthetic biologists presenting at SB6.0 (1, 2) include the High-Fidelity Velocity DNA Polymerase, MyTaq HS DNA Polymerase for Colony-PCR, Competent Cells, Quick-Stick Ligase for TA Cloning, ISOLATE II Plasmid Mini Kits, and our acclaimed range of SensiMix™ and SensiFAST™ Real-Time PCR kits.

If you’ve been attending the #SB6Conf in London this week, let us know if your poster cites any Bioline reagents and your synthetic biology research work and achievements could be showcased in a forthcoming SynBio article on the Bioline blog. And if you’re one of the IGEMers attending the conference, don’t forget to check out our Gem of an offer for iGEM Teams!

One final note regarding the future of synthetic biology and the synthetic biologists of the future, you can keep up to date with all the latest news from the iGEM SynBio research teams around the world by following the international iGEM Teams Twitter list maintained by us @ThePCRCompany.

Citations

1. Giuraniuc CV, MacPherson M, Saka Y, et al. (2013). Gateway Vectors for Efficient Artificial Gene Assembly In Vitro and Expression in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PLoS ONE 8(5): e64419. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064419

2. Ali H, Ries MI, Nijland JG, Lankhorst PP, Hankemeier T, et al. (2013). A Branched Biosynthetic Pathway Is Involved in Production of Roquefortine and Related Compounds in Penicillium chrysogenum. PLoS ONE 8(6): e65328. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065328

New Biotechnology Partnership Promises to Benefit Genomics Scientists in Ireland’s Leading Research Centres

Bioline/MSC Irish Partnership

Bioline: The PCR Company and Medical Supply Company Ltd (MSC) of Dublin, Ireland are pleased to announce an exclusive partnership deal to deliver high-quality, high-performance Bioline reagents to hospitals, universities, technological institutes, industrial and pharmaceutical companies throughout Ireland.

From 9th July 2013, MSC becomes the exclusive distributor in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for the complete range of high-performance Bioline reagents and kits, with a focus on PCR and Real-Time PCR products.  Eimear Scully, Managing Director of MSC commented:

Bioline has an excellent reputation for quality products and customer value, which closely matches our own values. MSC is committed to delivering the best solutions to meet the changing needs of our customers in each area we serve and we believe Bioline offers these quality solutions for PCR and Real-Time PCR.”

Marco Calzavara, President of Bioline added:

“We are very excited with the appointment of MSC as this significantly expands our presence in Ireland through the expertise of MSC’s team of highly qualified application specialists. We believe the partnership will enable scientists located in the leading Irish research centres to realize the benefits of our widely used PCR reagents.”

From today MSC customers will have access to high-performance reagents and kits such as the proven SensiFAST™ Real-Time reagents, which offer the greatest sensitivity and fastest reaction times in Real-Time applications. MSC customers will also benefit from direct access to the highly-praised technical support services available from Bioline laboratory scientists.

Richard L. Eberly, President of Meridian Life Science, Inc., said:

We are delighted with the appointment of Medical Supply Company as our exclusive distributor for Bioline reagents and kits in Ireland. We chose MSC because of their commitment to customer service and technical expertise in the PCR area and we are confident this will result in delivering a world class service to our customers in Ireland.”

For more information, please contact the Bioline office in London or:

Medical Supply Company Ltd.
Tel: +353 (0)1 822 4222
Fax: +353 (0)1 822 4100
Web: www.medical-supply.ie
Email: info@medical-supply.ie

Bioline Launches the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit — Single Tube Extraction of PCR-Ready DNA from Mammalian Tissue

Bioline: The PCR Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO), is proud to announce the worldwide release of the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit.

Powered by the high-performance MyTaq™ DNA Polymerase, the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit offers a quick and easy alternative for the extraction and amplification of DNA from a variety of mammalian tissue types.

Researchers using the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit can replace complicated, time-consuming extraction methods with a simple 15 minute, single tube, protocol; making it perfect for high-throughput applications, such as mouse genotyping and sequencing.

Marco Calzavara, President of Bioline commented:

“With the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit researchers can now quickly achieve the purity and yield necessary for high-performance PCR and Real-Time PCR experiments from solid tissues, such as mouse tail or mouse ear. This makes the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit the perfect addition to our widely used PCR reagents.”

Richard L. Eberly, President of Meridian Life Science, Inc., stated:

“We are delighted to release the MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit, another product in the rapidly expanding portfolio of highly specialized molecular biology reagents from Bioline. We are committed to our life science customers and to bringing innovation and quality products; such as the family of MyTaq™ products to the research laboratory, clinical diagnostic laboratories, and biotechnology companies.”

Learn more and order the new MyTaq™ Extract-PCR Kit from www.bioline.com.

Horsegate: Horse-meat DNA testing in Beef Products

On 15 January, four major UK supermarkets withdrew meat-based products in the light of the Food Standards Agency Ireland (FSAI) findings into the contamination of beef with horse and other animal meats.

The highest content of equine DNA was 29% in one sample, with the vast majority of others tested below <0.2%. Many samples were also found to contain porcine DNA.

The scandal has resulted in one of the biggest food recalls in UK history, and multiple suppliers across the EU being implicated. To deal with the growing scandal over mislabelled horse-meat, the EU Health Commissioner today urged all members to carry out DNA tests on processed beef for traces of horse-meat for three months from 1 March. Furthermore, tests for the presence of the veterinary medicine phenylbutazone (“bute”) were recommended.

We thought it may be interesting to look at some of the scientific challenges in authenticating presence of animal species in our meat. What types of horse-meat tests are out there? Further, how accurate are current tests in quantifying horse DNA? In fact, one food testing company in the UK this week has urged the food testing industry to not rush into horse DNA testing due to issues surrounding DNA quantification.

Currently, in the food testing industry there exist two main types of assays for detecting horse meat in beef – either protein-based or DNA-based.

The ELISA method tests for protein and has a 1-2% detection limit. Separate kits exist for testing either raw or cooked meat. However, due to the contamination being largely unknown, the ELISA method could possibly show inaccurate results.

With molecular-based testing of equine DNA using PCR, the detection limit is 1% but the limit of detection (i.e. sensitivity) can go down even lower. Both real-time PCR methods and end-point PCR (with subsequent RFLP analysis or sequencing) are suitable for DNA testing of equine DNA. PCR based methods amplify sequences from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which is more highly conserved and widely found in animal species than nuclear DNA. Specific details of primer sequences are not always made available by different companies.

Due to the wide variation in the amount of mitochondria from cell to cell in different tissue types (varying from 1 mitochondria per cell to 1000’s), it is not possible to accurately quantify the amount of horse DNA in a sample. DNA testing therefore should be seen as being qualitative rather than quantitative, and limitations to their accuracy should be borne in mind when interpreting results or those quoted in the press.

Bioline high performance molecular biology products have been cited in recent papers investigating contamination of meat products by horse meat, as well as other types of contaminants detected in food-testing.

BIOTAQ:  Authentication of species in meat products by genetic techniques.

BIOTAQ: A high incidence of species substitution and mislabelling detected in meat products sold in south Africa

Useful further reading:

• The Journal of the Institute of Food Science and Technology
• Food Standards Agency

A GEM of an offer for iGEM Researchers – Up to 35% OFF Bioline Reagents!

Bioline: The PCR Company

Bioline: The PCR Company was founded in 1992 in London – the dynamic city that will soon be hosting a major international sporting event in Stratford – to provide high-quality and cost-effective reagents for molecular biology, with the core aim of simplifying, accelerating and improving research in the field of life sciences.

The thinking and principles behind the founding of Bioline are similar to those of the interdisciplinary International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition that was established in 2003, with the aim of encouraging and developing undergraduate scientific research.

To celebrate our 20^th anniversary of services to life science, bolster the support we provide to young molecular biologists and as part of our commitment to helping nurture the scientists of the future, we are pleased to announce an exclusive special offer for all UK-based iGEM researchers – up to 35% off our already highly-competitive list prices!

Many of our reagents are available as free samples, so you’re welcome to try before you buy and all Bioline products are backed with full technical support from our UK-based support staff.

If you’re part of a UK-based iGEM team and need high-quality reagents at the best possible prices to bring your iGEM project to fruition, get full details of our exclusive iGEM researcher pricing plan by contacting your local Bioline account manager using our Rep Finder tool.  Alternatively, call us direct on 020 8452 2822.

It just remains for us to wish all iGEM researchers the greatest of success in this year’s competition!

Terms & Conditions
Offer only available to UK-based researchers participating in the 2012 iGEM competition. This special offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer or discount. Offer valid until 30.09.2012.