Fuji develops system for nucleic acid market
marketplace with a product which it claims can deliver DNA whole
blood samples in as little as six minutes.
The QuickGene-800 is a compact, small footprint, tabletop DNA/RNA isolation system that claims to produce higher yields such as 5.0 u.g compared to the standard 3.5-4.0 u.g. The product is also said to produce DNA with a higher purity than other methods, and can handle RNA extraction.
Nucleic acid extraction is one of the most basic and fundamental steps in many aspects of life science research in general and molecular biology in particular. It is the starting point for a significant proportion of biological research development invoking genomics, proteomics and cellomics.
Of the scientists involved in research requiring nucleic acid extraction, 90 per cent of all such extractions are still done manually. This is time-consuming and labour intensive.
Dave Hopton, of the life science group division of Fujifilm Medical Systems told DrugResearcher.com: "Fuji views this as an attractive niche marketing opportunity by providing a low cost, easy to use, personal nucleic acid isolation system."
"The general area that this product is aimed to cover is life science with an emphasis on molecular biology."
The key technology, which differentiates the Quickgene-800 from other products is its patented porous membrane, which binds the nucleic acids and eliminates the need for a centrifuge. The product attributes include a low membrane thickness for lower contamination, uniform fine pores and large specific surface areas to produce higher yields and three modified surface characteristics which produce a hydrophilic surface allowing for the selective elution of DNA and RNA.
Hopton explained that because the system does not use any magnetic beads there is no contamination of the sample from the magnetic beads. The QuickGene-800 does not use spin columns as a means of purification so there is no need to include a centrifuge in the QuickGene-800.
The end result is a simple, compact, inexpensive, personal nucleic acid isolation system that produces longer DNA in higher yield and purity than other methodologies.
"Fuji believe the QuickGene-800 offers a means to develop the nucleic acid extraction market by making available an inexpensive isolation system which provides consistently and rapidly provides the researcher with pure DNA or RNA."
"This instrument can be used in a wide variety of application areas, for example we can foresee a move for this equipment into clinical molecular diagnostics, blood banks, forensic testing, food testing and environmental testing, Hopton added."
Similar products currently available on the market that are available in the US positioned at FujiFilm's proposed price point are Qiagen's EZ-1 and Biosprint system and Thermo's KingFisher.
The QuickGene-800 will be available for sale in the US as of March 2005 for $10,000 (€6,600) with pricing for the DNA whole blood kit (96 samples) at $210, DNA from tissues (96 samples) at $225 and RNA from Cultured Cells (96 samples) at $335.
