NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held life sciences company marketing a molecular barcoding detection system, today announced that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is employing its nCounter™ Analysis System at two of its core labs.
One system was purchased by the NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR) through the Institute’s Office of Science and Technology Partnerships, and a second was purchased by SAIC-Frederick, operations and technical support contractor to NCI-Frederick.
The nCounter Analysis System provides highly multiplexed, direct digital detection and counting of individual biological molecules in a single reaction without the need for amplification. The system is now available to all NCI researchers through the CCR DNA Sequencing Minicore laboratory at the Bethesda facility and through the Laboratory of Molecular Technology, Advanced Technology Program of SAIC-Frederick at NCI-Frederick.
The role of the Office of Science and Technology Partnerships is to evaluate the latest technologic advancements and then make these advances available to all CCR investigators. The Advanced Technology Program offers the latest in genetics and genomics technologies to the NCI through the Laboratory of Molecular Technology. The nCounter Analysis System was selected based on the level of multiplexed gene expression analysis it offers with high sensitivity and without the need for enzymes, as well as its very simple workflow.
“We are excited to bring this state-of-the-art gene expression analysis technology to our cancer researchers,” said Michael Smith, Director of Genetics and Genomics and Vice-President at SAIC-Frederick. “The nCounter Analysis System offers a cost-effective way to validate the results from our large-scale microarray work for NCI investigators, producing a large amount of quantitative data in a short amount of time with an easy to perform protocol.”