Since the early 80s, innovators at Biosearch have refined the chemistry of custom oligonucleotide synthesis to accelerate the discovery and application of genomic information. Our unmatched selection of oligo modifications is complemented by our demonstrated expertise in the design and manufacture of fluorogenic probes and primers.
Challenges of Autofluorescence in Neuroscience
If you have ever imaged biological samples, you have likely encountered autofluorescence. That pesky background coloration you see under the microscope, which can make it difficult to distinguish your actual signal from the noise.1 When you are trying to look for something as delicate as RNA, you don’t want to be hunting for your signal…
Quenching to Success with BHQnova Probes: Turn to the Dark Side
The ability to specifically detect and quantify the amount of a particular nucleic acid sequence in a sample has revolutionized molecular biology and science as a whole. We can now elucidate many genetic elements, such as identify genomic copy number variations, the presence of pathogens, or assess the expression of a gene in large populations.…
Detecting Signal in qPCR: From DNA Binding Dyes to BHQ Probes
A Brief History of Detecting Amplicons The Old Days of Ethidium Bromide In the early 1990s, quantitative (q) PCR was in its infancy, and despite PCR itself already being around for 10 years, there were no easy ways of precisely quantifying the amount of DNA that was amplified in a PCR reaction. In those days PCR…
FISHing Made Easy with Stellaris® DesignReady Assays from Biosearch Technologies
Do you want to directly quantify RNA? Do you want to be able to localize RNA simply, quickly, and precisely? Heard about RNA FISH but are not sure how to go about designing your own probes? Then you want Biosearch Technologies’ DesignReady assays for Stellaris RNA. We’ve already seen the power of Stellaris® in our…
Modify Your Oligos, Modify Your Experiments
If you’ve ever performed PCR, you’re probably already very familiar with DNA oligonucleotides (or oligos). But did you know that these molecules can do so much more than just act as simple primers? You can add a wide range of modifications to your oligos, which may change the stability, binding, solubility and even visibility, to…
How RNA-FISH Can Complement qPCR, and Vice Versa
In studies of RNA abundance and gene expression, no one technique can answer all of the questions that need to be asked. So it is necessary to use a variety of experimental methods in concert. Two RNA detection and measurement techniques that complement each other well for this purpose are RNA Fluorescence in situ hybridization…
A primer on Probe-based SNP genotyping
Single Nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), colloquially pronounced ‘snips’, are the most common type of genetic variation in people. By definition, a SNP represents a single nucleotide variation at a specific location in the genome that is found in more than 1% in the population. For example, a SNP can replace the nucleotide cytosine (C) with an…
A Quick Tour Around Probe-based Multiplexing qPCR
PCR has become the tool of choice for molecular diagnostics and is now a staple platform in any laboratory setting. The versatility of this method has led to a myriad of spin-off techniques, including probe-based quantitative PCR (qPCR). This method effectively combines PCR amplification and detection into a single step to measure the specific amount…
Imaging non-coding RNAs with Stellaris® FISH Probes
Biosearch Technologies’ Stellaris FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) RNA visualization method allows simultaneous detection, localization and quantification of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) in cells and tissues using fluorescently labeled probes. Multiple probes bind along the lncRNA to produce a cumulative signal which is imaged by fluorescence microscopy. This imaging technology uses a simple protocol that…
How to detect long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)
According to the central dogma of molecular biology, DNA is transcribed into RNA, that is translated to proteins. Inconveniently, the vast majority of the genome contains sequences that do not actually code for proteins. So, this non-coding RNA (ncRNA) was dismissed as non-functional junk, letting researchers tick the box on their to-do lists and head off…
RNA Detection with Stellaris™ Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes
Biosearch Technologies has introduced a cool new technique for detecting and quantifying RNAs in fixed cells. This technique is called Stellaris FISH, and is a clever riff on standard fluorescence in situ hybridization. Read on to find out if this new technology is right for you…and be sure to check out the great video at…
- xTalks Webinar
Pushing the Limits of PCR: Considerations for assay development in high-throughput qPCR and digital PCR platforms
- Biosearch Videos
Watch webinars, animations, and video tutorials related to applications based on real-time PCR and SNP genotyping
- qPCR Design Lab
Nifty site with tools, information, and advice to get started with your real-time PCR/qPCR experiments