Single-cell isolation allows genomic and transcriptomic analysis of one individual cell. It is also required to build a monoclonal cell line from rare cell isolation, that could be for example CRISPR-CAS9 gene edited cells. There are 3 popular methods: serial dilution, micro-manipulation and flow cytometry. None of these are easy or simple, and they often require expertise and experience. Fortunately, a new solution for everybody has come! It’s designed to isolate a single cell in a few seconds, and it’s (quite appropriately) called the Smart Aliquotor.

Accurate monitoring of genome transcription activities is of crucial interest for deciphering gene expression and for a better understanding of RNA biology. Over the past years, various experimental methods for RNA Pol II mapping density across the whole genome have been designed. Here, I’d like to offer a brief introduction to the human Native Elongating Transcript-Sequencing (NET-Seq) method.

Next generation sequencing has quickly become the preferred method over tiling arrays for most genomics and transcriptomics needs. The major exception has been the study of microRNAs, where highly sensitive probe arrays such as the 3D-Gene® miRNA profiling platform are still widely used. A large part of the reason for the persistence of array dominance in small RNA expression profiling is caused by the variability introduced in sequencing library prep protocols involving complicated hands-on PAGE purification steps.

The CleanTag™ Ligation Kit for Small RNA Library Preparation now allows users to remove the Gel Purification steps from their protocols and shift to more automated bead purification protocols. This is particularly important for cases when RNA quantity is limiting. Traditional small RNA library prep protocols will result in the formation of adapter dimers (similar to primer dimers) when RNA quantities are limiting, thus greatly reducing the number of usable reads.

As detailed in a previous post, chemically-modifying oligonucleotide adapters is an effective means to prevent adapter dimer formation during small RNA library prep. Just as primer dimers form when very little template DNA is used for PCR, adapter dimers can form with low starting concentrations of RNA. The CleanTag™ Ligation Kit for Small RNA Library Prep is a complete kit which is compatible with Illumina® technology that makes use of such modified adapters in optimized buffer conditions. The kit includes CleanTag™ chemically modified adapters that greatly reduce adapter dimer formation and is optimized for total RNA input from 1-1000 ng.