HERCULES, CA and CORALVILLE, IA–Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (AMEX:BIO – News) and (AMEX:BIO-B – News), and Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (IDT), announced a collaborative agreement to develop RNA interference (RNAi) tool sets for life science researchers.

Under the agreement, IDT’s siRNA design and synthesis expertise will be paired with Bio-Rad’s transfection and analytical competencies to deliver validated Dicer-Substrate 27-mer small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes for RNAi applications. Bio-Rad will experimentally validate IDT’s potent Dicer-Substrate siRNA duplexes in live cells. This real-world validation, in addition to IDT’s existing functional guarantees, will give researchers added confidence in their work and help them deliver results sooner.

Through the agreement, Bio-Rad is granted the exclusive right to sell IDT manufactured Dicer-Substrate siRNAs that it tests and validates. In addition, Bio-Rad and IDT plan to develop a series of control kits for use with IDT’s TriFECTa Dicer-Substrate RNAi kits and Bio-Rad’s validated siRNA duplexes.

About RNAi and Dicer-Substrate siRNA

RNAi is a major advance in genomic research that allows researchers to target specific genes and down-regulate their expression in living cells. The first generation of RNAi technology included the use of short-interfering RNA (siRNA) designed to bypass an intracellular process controlled by the Dicer enzyme. Later, it was discovered that optimizing RNA duplexes to act as substrates for processing by Dicer could achieve improved levels of RNAi-mediated gene knockdown at significantly lower concentrations than first-generation siRNA designs.

About IDT

Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (www.idtdna.com), is the largest supplier of custom nucleic acids in the U.S., serving the areas of academic research, biotechnology, clinical diagnostics and pharmaceutical development. IDT’s primary business is the manufacturing of custom DNA and RNA oligonucleotides (oligos) for research applications. Founded in 1987 by Joseph Walder, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Iowa), Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., has achieved annual double-digit growth over the past 10 years. Today, IDT synthesizes and ships up to 25,000 custom oligos per day, and more than 60,000 customers worldwide turn to IDT to fulfill their synthetic DNA and RNA requirements.