RT-qPCR is commonly performed to support gene expression analysis, which compares the expression of genes between two or more samples and can help researchers determine gene expression targets for additional study. In turn, gene expression analysis can enable and guide more efficient drug development research. 

With the Cells-to-CT Express Kit, researchers can measure relative gene expression while skipping the traditional RNA purification step when performing RT-qPCR. Instead, with only 5 minutes of prep time required, they can go directly from cultured cells to RT-qPCR. This not only promotes a faster workflow overall, with results delivered from an entire plate of cells in 70 minutes, but also reduces the plastic waste generated from the process. 

With the Cells-to-CT Express Kit, the amount of waste generated is approximately 8.1 grams of plastic. In contrast, with a traditional RNA purification kit, the waste generated is approximately 106.9 grams. This is equivalent to a 92.4% reduction in plastic waste when using the Cells-to-CT Express Kit. 

“As part of Thermo Fisher’s mission to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer, we have developed the new Invitrogen TaqMan Cells-to-CT Express Kit. Using a fast and streamlined workflow, this innovative kit generates consistent and highly sensitive results enabling drug developers to get new treatments to market faster. Additionally, it is estimated that labs worldwide produce a combined 5.5 million tons of plastic waste each year 1helping labs transition to more sustainable practices,” said Ellie Mahjubi, vice president and general manager of sample preparation, Thermo Fisher Scientific.