Life Technologies Bolsters Its 60 Percent Market Share Lead in Benchtop Sequencers with 12 New Ion Torrent(TM) Products


More than 90 peer-reviewed papers and the world's largest online sequencing community reflects broad adoption of Ion Torrent™ technology



CARLSBAD, Calif. - Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced a dozen innovative new products for the Ion Torrent platform that will make sequencing faster, simpler and more accessible for scientists, driving discovery and advancing clinical research around the world.



"These new products continue the pace of relentless innovation that in just two years enabled Ion Torrent™ semiconductor sequencing technology to scale more than 1,000-fold and gain a 60 percent market share of benchtop sequencers," said Dr. Jonathan M. Rothberg, Ion Torrent Founder and CEO. "More than 90 peer-reviewed publications and the world's largest online sequencing community, with over 15,000 members, reflect the huge demand for faster, simpler and more affordable sequencing."



Sample Preparation



Ion Torrent technology continues to simplify and automate key workflows, decreasing turnaround times and expanding access to next-generation sequencing for both basic and translational researchers.



    -  Ion Library Equalizer™ Kits eliminate the need for library

       quantification and library dilutions prior to clonal amplification for

       Ion AmpliSeq™ DNA and Ion genomic fragment libraries. The kit reduces

       hands-on time, sample variability and reagent cost, while increasing

       processing speed for high-throughput applications.

    -  Ion TargetSeq™ Exome Rapid Protocol reduces the capture step to just

       16 hours, enabling whole human exome enrichment and sequencing on the

       Ion Proton™ Sequencer in as little as a day and a half, making the

       Ion Exome sequencing workflow the fastest method for performing human

       exome sequencing. The protocol is now available from Ion field

       application specialists.

    -  Ion AmpliSeq™ RNA Library Kit requires as little as 500 pg of unfixed

       RNA and 5 ng of FFPE RNA and is compatible with Ion Express™ Barcode

       Modules for multiplexing multiple samples on a single Ion semiconductor

       sequencing chip.

    -  Ion Total RNA-Seq Kit for AB Library Builder™ System enables the

       analysis of either whole transcriptome or small RNA expression with a

       single reagent kit. The kit requires as little as 500 ng of total RNA,

       or as little as 50 ng of enriched small RNA.



Ion AmpliSeq™ Technology



Ion AmpliSeq technology is the industry-leading solution for targeted sequencing, with over 100,000 reactions run in the past year. Today, Life Technologies is launching the first targeted RNA panels for a next-generation sequencer, a targeted mouse DNA panel and two new community panels. All of the products below are available at www.ampliseq.com.



    -  Ion AmpliSeq Designer 2.0 now enables researchers to design panels

       for sequencing human DNA and RNA, as well as mouse DNA. The Ion

       AmpliSeq Designer now supports up to 6,144 primer pairs in a single

       tube, up to 5 Mb designs, the industry's highest multiplexed solution.

    -  Ion AmpliSeq RNA Cancer Panel is a single pool that targets the same

       50 tumor suppressor and oncogenes covered by the Ion AmpliSeq DNA

       Cancer Hotspot Panel v2.

    -  Ion AmpliSeq RNA Apoptosis Panel uses a single pool of primers

       representing 267 genes involved in the cellular apoptosis pathway,

       including genes associated with death receptor mediated apoptosis, c-myc

       and p53 mediated apoptosis.

    -  Ion AmpliSeq RNA Custom Panels enable scientists to choose from over

       20,000 targeted genes to survey gene expression fold changes in samples

       requiring as little as 500 pg of unfixed RNA or 5 ng of FFPE RNA. The

       assay yields greater than 5 logs of dynamic range for up to 300 genes in

       a single tube assay.

    -  Ion AmpliSeq DNA Custom Mouse Panel uses a single pool of primers

       with up to 6,144 amplicons and requires just 10 ng of genomic DNA to

       target up to 5 Mb of mouse genomic regions.



Ion Informatics



Ion Torrent services continue to improve in performance and simplicity of data analysis, with advances in three key areas:



    -  Torrent Browser Plug-in Store enables anyone to create and share

       plug-ins that provide additional data analysis functionality within

       Torrent Suite™ Software. In less than a year, over 35 plug-ins have

       been contributed to the Ion Community and over 6,000 have been

       downloaded.

    -  Torrent Suite Software v3.4 and the new Torrent Variant Caller offer

       integrated signal processing, base calling, mapping and variant

       detection, and a new compressed file format, all delivered through a web

       browser and preconfigured on a Torrent Server. This software is

       available for download now.

    -  Ion Reporter™ Software v1.4 is a streamlined bioinformatics solution

       that enables scientists to identify and interpret human genetic variants

       from either the Ion PGM™ or Ion Proton™ sequencers. The software

       brings rich genomic annotation, easy-to-use filters and reproducible

       analysis to molecular biologists. Researchers can try Ion Reporter

       Software for free through May 31, 2013.



All products referenced are for research use only and not for use in diagnostic procedures.



About Life Technologies 

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company with customers in more than 160 countries using its innovative solutions to solve some of today's most difficult scientific challenges. Quality and innovation are accessible to every lab with its reliable and easy-to-use solutions spanning the biological spectrum, with more than 50,000 products for agricultural biotechnology, translational research, molecular medicine and diagnostics, stem cell-based therapies, forensics, food safety and animal health. Its systems, reagents and consumables represent some of the most cited brands in scientific research including: Ion Torrent™, Applied Biosystems®, Invitrogen™, Gibco®, Ambion®, Molecular Probes® and Novex®. Life Technologies employs approximately 10,400 people and upholds its ongoing commitment to innovation with more than 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses. LIFE had sales of $3.8 billion in 2012. Visit us at our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com.



Life Technologies Contact:

Wes Conard

650-243-6019

wes.conard@lifetech.com



SOURCE 

Life Technologies Corporation



Web Site: http://www.lifetechnologies.com


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