New England Biolabs® launches Monarch® Mag Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit to enable highly sensitive viral detection

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Apr 11, 2024, 14:16 ET

New addition to Monarch's sustainable nucleic acid purification portfolio is designed for hands-free isolation of viral nucleic acid from saliva, respiratory swabs and wastewater utilizing a magnetic bead-based method that enables high-throughput automation and highly sensitive detection and/or sequencing of viruses.

IPSWICH, Mass., April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- New England Biolabs (NEB^®) announces the release of its Monarch Mag Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit. This extraction kit enhances recovery of low amounts of viral nucleic acid to enable highly sensitive detection. The kit uses a magnetic bead-based process to extract viral RNA and DNA reproducibly and efficiently, while enabling scale up for high-throughput automation. The kit is compatible with the most common sample types for extracting viral nucleic acids, including saliva, respiratory swab samples and, following an enrichment step, wastewater samples.

"Isolating viral nucleic acids is crucial for several areas of life sciences research, including viral genome sequencing, infectious disease detection, and wastewater surveillance," said James Deng, Senior Product Marketing Manager for NEB's nucleic acid purification product line. "These methods require high sensitivity to detect the canonically low amount of virus in a sample, and high throughput to meet the demands of infectious disease testing and surveillance."

"We've addressed these challenges with a viral nucleic acid purification kit that enables some of the highest sensitivity in detection commercially available, which we've tested with a wide range of virus types. We have also designed the kit for hands-free use on various automated instrument platforms to enable more flexibility and versatility," stated Anagha Kadam, Applications & Product Development Scientist at NEB.

Highly-sensitive detection, following extraction of viral nucleic acid in samples containing few target molecules, is achieved through a combination of a magnetic bead-based method, an optimized buffer chemistry and a simplified extraction procedure, in which carrier RNA is utilized as a co-precipitant to enhance the recovery of low amounts of viral nucleic acid. Furthermore, customers can elute the purified RNA in low elution volumes, making the kit a desirable choice for various downstream applications.

Additionally, in contrast to spin column-based nucleic acid purification methods, the bead-based technology offers researchers greater scalability and flexibility in moving from manual processing of viral samples to a hands-free, automatable approach. The kit works on a variety of automation instrument platforms, allowing researchers the flexibility to use their preferred workflows and instrumentations, including the KingFisher^™Flex magnetic particle processor, and the Agilent Bravo and MGISP liquid handler platforms.

Finally, in alignment with NEB's commitment to promoting sustainable practices, the Monarch Mag Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit requires fewer plastics than purification columns, and the kit is packaged using more sustainable, recyclable materials.

The Monarch Mag Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit complements NEB's downstream amplification and library prep for next-generation sequencing applications, and can be utilized with these product lines accordingly. Notably, in conjunction with a separate upstream enrichment step available from other suppliers, this new NEB kit can automate wastewater sample processing and nucleic acid purification For more details about the Monarch Mag Viral DNA/RNA Extraction Kit, or to request a trial kit, visit NEBMonarch.com.

About New England Biolabs:

Established in the mid 1970's, New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB) is the industry leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications and now offers the largest selection of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research. NEB continues to expand its product offerings into areas related to PCR, gene expression, sample preparation for next generation sequencing, synthetic biology, glycobiology, epigenetics and RNA analysis. Additionally, NEB is focused on strengthening alliances that enable new technologies to reach key market sectors, including the development of molecular diagnostics, as well as nucleic acid vaccines. New England Biolabs is a privately held company, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, and has extensive worldwide distribution through a network of exclusive distributors, agents and subsidiaries located in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the UK. For more information about New England Biolabs visit www.neb.com.

NEB® and NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS® are registered trademarks of New England Biolabs, Inc.
MONARCH® is a registered trademark of New England Biolabs, Inc.
KINGFISHER™ is a trademark of Thermo Fisher Scientific

SOURCE New England Biolabs, Inc.