Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $17 billion and approximately 50,000 employees in 50 countries.
Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity.
Through our premier brands – Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services – we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing
convenience and comprehensive support.
Articles by
3′ mRNA-seq is a NGS method to profile gene expression that is sensitive and straightforward but won’t blow your budget.
The efficiency of whole genome sequencing (WGS) workflows has skyrocketed since its inception. Major leaps and minor tweaks in the WGS workflow have compounded over time resulting in radical reductions in processing time and the cost of sequencing whole genomes over the past decades. The complete sequencing of the first human genome, named the Human…
The success of whole genome sequencing (WGS) is shown in the quick and efficient scientific response to the 2011 outbreak of E. coli in Germany and France.1 German and French strains of E. coli were indistinguishable using standard tests. However, WGS analysis showed 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the German strains and 9 SNPs…
An oft-repeated maxim in biological bench science is that any experiment is only as good as its control. A control is an unchanging standard of comparison in an experiment, and an internal control is typically a standard reaction run together with the test reaction in the same reaction mixture. The purpose of an internal control…
WGS technologies have seen significant progress since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. First-generation Sanger Sequencers were limited by lengthy run times, high expenses, and throughputs that read only tens of kilobases per run. The arrival of second-generation sequencers in the mid-2000s brought about the plummeting of sequencing costs and run times,…
In whole genome sequencing (WGS) initiatives it is not enough to simply sequence the whole length of the genomic DNA sample just once. This is because genomes are usually very large. The human genome, for example, contains approximately 3 billion base pairs. Although sequencing accuracy for individual bases is very high, when you consider large…
One of the most powerful methods of modern cellular biology is creating and analyzing RNA libraries via RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). This technique, also called whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing, gives you a snapshot of the transcriptome in question, and can be used to examine alternatively spliced transcripts, post-transcriptional modifications, and changes in gene expression, amongst other applications.…
Maybe you want to examine the entire transcriptome or maybe you want to investigate changes in expression from your favorite gene. You could do whole transcriptome sequencing or mRNA-seq. But which one is right for your project? From budget considerations to sample collection, let’s briefly look at both to see which might be best for your…
RNA-seq is based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) and allows for discovery, quantitation and profiling of RNA. The technique is quickly taking over a slightly older method of RNA microarrays to get a more complete picture of gene expression in a cell. Data generated by RNA-seq can illustrate variations in gene expression, identify single nucleotide polymorphisms…
For most molecular biology purposes, DNA is thought of as a string of nucleotides running from 3’ to 5’, and the corresponding mRNA sequence is complementary to this DNA string. However, visualizing this quirky DNA structure for what it is – two antiparallel strands joined together – it quite important for many applications, such as…
What Is Alternative Polyadenylation? Processing of mRNA and its regulation plays a fundamental role in gene expression. As science progresses, alternative polyadenylation takes center stage in the undercurrents of gene expression. 1,2 Polyadenylation is part of the pre-mRNA maturation process and involves polyadenylation of the 3’ end of the emerging RNA. This process happens to…
What Are Non-Coding RNAs? What was once considered “junk” may end up being the most important part of our genome. Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is RNA that is transcribed from DNA but diverts from the “central dogma” because it does not code for proteins. NcRNAs are ubiquitous in eukaryotes: while 90 percent of eukaryotic genomes are…
Quantitative Reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) is frequently used in the lab to detect and quantify RNA expression in a sample. The first step of the assay is to convert the labile RNA to its complementary DNA (cDNA) counterpart through reverse transcription (RT). In fact, RT is the first step in a variety of molecular biology…
The age of sequencing is undoubtedly upon us. From improving cancer diagnostics to pinning down elephant poaching hotspots, DNA sequencing is revolutionizing the world around us from the ground up. The latest video from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s “Behind the Bench” blog, 10 moments in DNA sequencing gives fascinating insights into the amazing advances being made…