CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
April 2015—Agena Bioscience released the MassArray 24-Well System for mass spectrometry-based genetic analysis. The 24-well format is tailored to smaller clinical testing laboratories requiring modest sample throughput, reduced initial hardware costs, and reduced time to result.
The system detects genetic variation directly by label-free mass spectrometry, analyzing up to 50 genetic loci per well. The platform’s assay design software and services allow clinical laboratories to develop targeted, actionable panels for routine or specialized tests.
The liquid biopsy field can also exploit the smaller MassArray format. Assays specific to an individual can be developed from genome sequencing data within a day and run repeatedly from blood samples at regular intervals. The latest MassArray chemistry, UltraSeek, can detect rare variations as low as 0.1 percent allele frequency, and UltraSeek assays can assess up to 10 genetic loci per well.
The 24-well SpectroChip format can be used with existing 96- or 384-well Mass-Array systems without any hardware modifications for more economical lower-volume testing and method development.
Labs that purchase the 24-well system can, as testing volumes expand, upgrade the instrument to support 96- or 384-well formats for increased throughput.
The MassArray system is for research use only.
Agena Bioscience , 858-882-2800