Innovations in proteomics and genomics drive era of precision medicine

Broad spectrum of technological advances for cancer research on display at AACR 2016.

“As precision medicine advances, the scale and depth of Thermo Fisher’s growing cancer research portfolio is uniquely suited to serve the needs of our customers in their collective endeavor to deliver cures through cancer science,” said Joe Bernardo, president of clinical next-generation sequencing for Thermo Fisher. “Through our commitment to innovation, we will continue to enable breakthroughs in the lab intended for the development of future clinical applications.”

Among the innovations featured at AACR are

• New Invitrogen Lenti Array CRISPR Libraries significantly expand the scientific community’s ability to use CRISPR based genome editing technology to identify key therapeutic targets and understand complex biological pathways. Enabling customers to completely knockout entire panels of genes increases the quality and the efficiency of screening experiments. Understanding phenotypic responses is key for cancer research.

• Researchers looking for a single, simplified solution for the widest range of targeted sequencing applications, the new Ion S5 and Ion S5 XL next-generation sequencing (NGS) systems are rapid, cost-effective and flexible platforms that can be scaled for all research areas. Built upon the proven capabilities of Ion Torrent technology, the new Ion S5 systems combine the ability to sequence gene panels and small genomes as well as exomes, transcriptomes and custom assays. The platforms are designed with plug-and-play, cartridge-based reagents to make setting up and operating the sequencers simple and efficient.

• As part of a comprehensive proteome analysis workflow for cancer research, the next-generation Thermo Scientific Vanquish ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) system combined with the Thermo Scientific Q Exactive Plus Quadrupole-Orbitrap and the Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantiva Triple Quadrapole mass spectrometers can help uncover the complexities of the proteome and enable analysis of complex biological matrices routinely used in clinical research laboratories. This multidisciplinary approach to study the proteome and view cancer as a system rather than an ensemble of molecules - acquiring genome-scale information from proteomic analysis - can transform researchers’ ability to link genotype to phenotype in cancer.

• The Invitrogen Pre-Defined siRNA Libraries are new for discovery applications that leverage the proprietary Silencer (unmodified) and Silencer Select (chemically modified) siRNA technologies to better understand phenotypic responses for cancer research. These new catalogues expand the researcher’s capabilities in RNAi screening against updated genome targets and siRNA designs to effectively investigate biological pathways.

• The Applied Biosystems Minor Variant Finder Software is a new tool developed for the detection and reporting of minor mutations by Sanger sequencing. The innovative algorithm of the software neutralizes the background noise using a control sample, and enables calling of minor variants at a detection level as low as 5 percent. Depending on the cancer type, the moderate number of relevant variants in oncogenes (for example, KRAS, NRAS, etc.) and/or tumor suppressor genes (for example, TP53) could be detected quickly and cost-effectively. The software is also an important confirmatory method for NGS results.

• The Thermo Scientific NanoDrop One and NanoDrop OnceC UV-V microvolume spectrophotometers are designed to help life science researchers better understand sample quality with only 1-2 µL of sample to avoid costly delays caused by troubleshooting and/or repeat experiments. The spectrophotometers feature the new Thermo Scientific Acclaro Sample Intelligence technology, which enables scientists to identify sample contaminants, obtain corrected concentration results and receive instant feedback about sample quality with guided technical support. A wide dynamic range avoids the need to dilute samples, and the Auto-Measure feature streamlines quantitation.