PacBio® RS II With BluePippin™ Size Selection Platform Provides Customers Improved Ability to Sequence Longer DNA Fragments
MENLO PARK, Calif. and BEVERLY, Mass., May 16, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., (Nasdaq:PACB), provider of the PacBio® RS II DNA Sequencing System, and Sage Science, a developer of life science products for improving sample preparation processes in molecular biology applications, today announced a co-marketing partnership to provide customers of the PacBio RS II the ability to sequence even longer DNA fragments when performing Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing.
"We have found that the BluePippin™ size selection platform is very useful for applications where long read lengths are important, such as de novo genome assembly," said Kevin Corcoran, Senior Vice President of Market Development at Pacific Biosciences. "Our studies have demonstrated that size selection with Sage's BluePippin platform is an easy addition to our customers' sample prep workflow that selects for 10 kb or larger fragments for sequencing on the PacBio RS II."
Based on PacBio's revolutionary SMRT Sequencing technology, the PacBio RS II can generate average read lengths of 5,000 base pairs, with the longest reads above 20,000 base pairs in length. The PacBio RS II System, including consumables and software, provides a simple, fast, end-to-end workflow for SMRT Sequencing in research areas including infectious disease and microbiology, agriculture, and complex genetic diseases with repeat expansions.
The BluePippin platform, part of the Pippin line of automated size-selection tools offered by Sage Science, uses pulsed-field power to take fractions of DNA from fragments ranging from 50 bases to 50 kilobases. Independent studies of size-selection methods for next-generation sequencing sample prep have repeatedly found that the Pippin platform offers unparalleled reproducibility, accuracy, and sample recovery. By eliminating low-molecular-weight templates from sequencing libraries, automated size selection allows users to load longer fragments and boost the average read length produced by sequencing.
"This is excellent validation of the tremendous utility BluePippin offers for libraries designed to generate extraordinarily long sequence reads," said Alex Vira, Director of Marketing for Sage Science. "We look forward to working with PacBio and its customers as they continue to deliver industry-leading read lengths and conduct countless studies that would be impossible with shorter-read technologies."
In data presented at the Advances in Genome Biology & Technology conference earlier this year, Pacific Biosciences scientists assessed three libraries (bacterial, fish and mammalian) generated with and without BluePippin size selection. They reported that N50 subread lengths increased by 90%, 110%, and 86%, respectively, in the libraries that were size selected with BluePippin compared to those that were not.
About Pacific Biosciences
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (Nasdaq:PACB) offers the PacBio® RS II DNA Sequencing System to help scientists solve genetically complex problems. Based on its novel Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) technology, the company's products enable: targeted sequencing to more comprehensively characterize genetic variations; de novo genome assembly to more fully identify, annotate and decipher genomic structures; and DNA base modification identification to help characterize epigenetic regulation and DNA damage. By providing access to information that was previously inaccessible, Pacific Biosciences enables scientists to increase their understanding of biological systems. More information is available at www.pacb.com.
About Sage Science
Sage Science is a privately held company based in Beverly, Mass., that develops life sciences products to ease the burden and improve the quality of sample preparation processes for molecular biology applications. Its Pippin product line, including the Pippin Prep and BluePippin, offers scientists a highly reproducible, automated alternative to manual gels for DNA size selection and purification that significantly reduces hands-on time while yielding more precise genomic libraries. For more information, visit www.sagescience.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, statements relating to goals, plans, objectives, milestones and future events. All statements, explicit or implied, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements containing the words "plan," "expects," "potential," "believes," "goal," "estimate," "anticipates," "outlook," and similar words. These statements are based on the current estimates and assumptions of Pacific Biosciences' management as of the date of this press release and are subject to risks, uncertainties, changes in circumstances and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the information expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made in this press release. Examples of such statements include statements about the speed, potential usefulness, ease of use and read lengths achieved in applications of the PacBio RS II DNA Sequencing System and the reproducibility, accuracy and sample recovery of the Pippen platform, as well as the ease of ability to incorporate the Pippin platform with sequencing on the PacBio RS II. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include risks more fully described in the "Risk Factors" section of Pacific Biosciences' most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 and the risks discussed in Pacific Biosciences' other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this press release. Pacific Biosciences undertakes no obligation to revise or update information herein to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.