QIAGEN launched new QIAseq FastSelect™ solutions to accelerate RNA-seq

Hilden, Germany, and Germantown, Maryland, November 12, 2019 – Last month QIAGEN announced the launch of innovative new technologies for faster, simpler library preparation for next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the growing field of RNA research.

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) controls many genetic processes, but library preparation for NGS often is slowed by the presence of RNA types that are highly abundant in samples but biologically unimportant. The new solutions use a method to remove unwanted RNA, enabling scientists to achieve more on-target reads and more efficient use of resources with any NGS platform:

• QIAseq FastSelect™ -rRNA HMR and -Globin Kits, designed for human, mouse and rat samples, remove ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and globin messenger RNA (globin mRNA) to optimize RNA sequencing. The kits remove more than 97% of rRNA and globin mRNA from mammalian samples.
• The QIAseq FastSelect™ 5S/16S/23S Kit, designed for complex microbial communities in soil, water, stool and sludge samples, removes abundant bacterial 5S/16S/23S rRNA from RNAseq libraries.

“These new QIAseq FastSelect™ solutions add to our innovative portfolio addressing critical bottlenecks in next-generation sequencing, allowing scientists to quickly remove unwanted RNA types from samples, gaining time and cost savings and maximizing their research insights,” said Dr. Thomas Schweins, Senior Vice President of QIAGEN’s Life Sciences Business Area. “Our novel QIAseq FastSelect™ technologies remove unwanted RNA with a single 10-second pipetting step and 14 minutes of incubation. We are pleased to offer these valuable additions to our universal NGS portfolio to meet the growing need for reliable, efficient preparation of RNA libraries in search of deeper insights for the life sciences.”

QIAseq FastSelect™ technology consistently removes high levels of ribosomal RNA from mammalian samples through 14 minutes of interaction with the FastSelect™ RNA removal reagent. The solution effectively reduces rRNA, which can make up more than 85% of RNA within a sample, to 1% or less. The kits are compatible with stranded RNA-seq library kits from QIAGEN, Illumina, New England BioLabs and Kapa Biosystems and work in-line, so no extra clean-up steps or NGS library protocol changes are needed.

Dr. Fabienne Desmots-Loyer, a researcher on the Hematology Team at CHU – Hospital Pontchaillou in Rennes, France, first tried QIAseq FastSelect™ technology in research with paired tumor samples that were small and of inconsistent quality. “We asked two different service providers to perform RNA-seq library prep and sequencing for us, but they were unsuccessful, stating that libraries weren’t achievable due to the poor RNA quality and low amounts of sample. By adding QIAGEN’s new QIAseq FastSelect™ RNA Removal Kit before library prep, we were able to perform the entire workflow easily and very conveniently in our own laboratory,” she said.

QIAGEN’s QIAseq portfolio focuses on providing precise NGS data by incorporation of unique molecular indexes (UMIs) and advanced data analysis for alignment and interpretation. For more information on QIAGEN NGS technologies, application focus and the new FastSelect™ kits, please visit https://go.qiagen.com/qiaseqfastselectoverview

About QIAGEN

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of June 30, 2019, QIAGEN employed approximately 5,200 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at https://qiagen.com