MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Takara Bio USA, Inc. (TBUSA; formerly Clontech Laboratories, Inc.) announced today that its SMART-Seq® v4 Ultra® Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing has been selected for the development of gene expression profiles of individual brain cells as part of the Allen Cell Types Database, a public resource available from the Allen Institute for Brain Science. This database will extend knowledge about the various cell types in the brain, which in turn may shed light on how the healthy brain functions and what goes wrong in diseases such as autism, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“We are excited to provide the SMART-Seq v4 Ultra Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing to the Allen Institute, to support their efforts to develop the Allen Cell Types Database of brain cell morphology, signaling, and gene expression. This publicly-accessible database will be a great step toward understanding healthy brain function and developing cures for serious brain diseases,” commented Carol Lou, President of Takara Bio USA, Inc. “Understanding the gene expression that is correlated to specific cell morphologies and signaling events is essential to a fuller understanding of brain activity.”
Andrew Farmer, Vice President of Research and Development at TBUSA, stated that, “The SMART-Seq v4 Ultra Low kit shows the highest performance of any technology currently available, producing the highest number of identified full-length genes with the smoothest library construction process. This kit will fully support the Allen Institute’s project to generate full transcriptome maps of over 100,000 individual mouse and human neocortex cells.”
The SMART-Seq v4 Ultra Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing is an immensely powerful tool for studying the full transcriptome, including splice junctions and alternative splicing events in cells, and provides full-length gene coverage. LNA technology incorporated into the kit improves the efficiency of template switching, which in turn increases the number of genes identified to higher levels than any other technology. For more information about the SMART-Seq v4 Ultra Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing, please visit www.clontech.com\single-cell.
About Takara Bio USA, Inc.
Takara Bio USA, Inc. (formerly Clontech Laboratories, Inc.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Takara Bio Inc., develops, manufactures, and distributes a wide range of life science research reagents under the Takara®, Clontech® and Cellartis® brands. Key products include SMARTer® cDNA synthesis kits for a variety of samples and applications, including NGS; high-performance qPCR and PCR reagents (including the Takara Ex Taq®, Takara LA Taq®, Titanium®, and Advantage® enzymes); Cellartis stem cells and stem cell reagents; RT enzymes and SMART® library construction kits; the innovative In-Fusion® cloning system; Guide-it gene editing tools; Tet-based inducible gene expression systems; and Living Colors® fluorescent proteins. These and other products support applications including NGS; gene discovery, regulation, and function studies; protein expression and purification; RNAi, gene editing, and stem cell studies; and plant and food research. For more information, visit takarabio.com.
About Takara Bio Inc.
Takara Bio Inc. is an innovative biotechnology company based in Shiga, Japan. As a world leader in biotechnology research and development, Takara Bio was the first company to market PCR technology in Japan and is also the developer of the RetroNectin® reagent, which is used as a world standard in gene therapy protocols. In addition to providing research reagents and equipment to the life science research market, Takara Bio has active research and product development activities in the fields of gene and cell-based therapy and agricultural biotechnology; and is committed to preventing disease and improving the quality of life for all people through the use of biotechnology. Through strategic alliances with other industry leaders, Takara Bio aims to extend its reach around the world. More information is available at takara-bio.com.
About the Allen Institute for Brain Science
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a division of the Allen Institute (alleninstitute.org), an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit medical research organization, and is dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works in health and disease. Using a big science approach, the Allen Institute generates useful public resources used by researchers and organizations around the globe, drives technological and analytical advances, and discovers fundamental brain properties through integration of experiments, modeling and theory. Launched in 2003 with a seed contribution from founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, the Allen Institute is supported by a diversity of government, foundation and private funds to enable its projects. Given the Institute’s achievements, Mr. Allen committed an additional $300 million in 2012 for the first four years of a ten-year plan to further propel and expand the Institute’s scientific programs, bringing his total commitment to date to $500 million. The Allen Institute for Brain Science’s data and tools are publicly available online at brain-map.org.
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SOURCE Takara Bio USA, Inc.
