ST. LOUIS, Oct. 28 — Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL) today announced the launch of its TransPlex(R) Whole Transcriptome Amplification (WTA2) technology (https://www.sigma.com/wta). TransPlex technology is believed to be the fastest, most sensitive and robust method available for amplifying total RNA from a variety of sample tissue sources such as animals, plants, and microorganisms. Optimized for formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue samples, WTA2 is the second addition to the patent-pending suite of WTA products designed to study RNA in vitro.

“Sigma-Aldrich is committed to bringing best-in-class technologies to the genomic research community,” said Helge Bastian, Vice President of Marketing for Sigma-Aldrich’s Research Biotech Business Unit. “The TransPlex(R) Whole Transcriptome Amplification product line adds an important tool for researchers who work with limited quantity and quality of RNA samples.”

The TransPlex WTA technology creates a cDNA library from total RNA template and then amplifies the cDNA library in a single PCR reaction. The TransPlex reagents and protocols, optimized to ensure clonal and stochastic amplification of all expressed genes and exons, allow RNA samples to be amplified 1,000-10,000 fold in less than four hours. Sigma-Aldrich’s WTA2 technology is highly robust, designed for use with RNA is partially degraded, as in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue derived from tumor samples.