Trickle ?
Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq: IVGN - news) and Diversa Corporation (Nasdaq: DVSA - news) announced today the launch of ThermalAce(TM) DNA Polymerase, a novel enzyme that improves the performance of DNA amplification for the widely used polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The enzyme is an extremely stable DNA polymerase that improves the yield of DNA amplifications while doing so with a high degree of accuracy.
ThermalAce(TM) DNA Polymerase, which was licensed from Diversa and is marketed by Invitrogen, has broad applications in life sciences and genomics research. The enzyme also has other molecular biology applications such as linear extension from DNA oligonucleotides and for the generation of labeled probes by a technique known as nick translation.
``The unique characteristics of ThermalAce(TM) make it an important addition to Invitrogen's collection of research tools for molecular biology and genomics research,'' said Lyle Turner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Invitrogen. ``PCR is such a widely used technology that this level of improved yield coupled with high-fidelity is very significant.''
Diversa Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jay Short said, ``The commercialization of this enzyme for key technologies such as PCR demonstrates how Diversa's technologies can improve and speed the development of products for a variety of industries. We are very pleased to have Invitrogen introduce this unique enzyme discovered through Diversa's genomics program.''
ThermalAce(TM) is a proofreading enzyme that is unique in that it remains stable and active longer than other thermostable enzymes at the high temperatures required for PCR. The enzyme is derived from a proprietary archeon, which thrives in the boiling hot waters near submarine volcanoes and has evolved properties of extreme thermostability. The high-fidelity amplification and extended enzymatic activity at high temperature can improve DNA amplification yields and accuracy on a variety of PCR templates including genomic DNA, cDNA, and templates that are long (up to 25 kilobases) and contain high levels of guanine and cytosine (GC-rich templates).
Marc Nasoff, Principal Scientist for the Division of Proteomics at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) said, ``We've used the ThermalAce(TM) enzyme with success in beta-tests in our ongoing high-throughput cloning projects. We found it worked well for high-fidelity, high-yield amplifications.''
The ThermalAce(TM) enzyme is commercialized as part of a cross-licensing agreement between Invitrogen and Diversa finalized in 1999. Two additional enzymes from Diversa's collection are under development at Invitrogen. Diversa will collect royalties from the sale of ThermalAce(TM) and maintain diagnostic rights. |
