New England Biolabs (NEB) announced the release of its first lyophilized product manufactured by Fluorogenics: the LyoPrime Luna Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Mix with UDG.

This lyophilized master mix exhibits the same features of the previously released liquid 4X mix and enables sensitive, linear real-time detection of target RNA sequences now in a room temperature-stable format.

“The current worldwide focus on infectious diseases has highlighted the need for increased access to robust RNA reagents in a variety of formats,” says Nicole Nichols, associate director, Applications and Product Development. “By lyophilizing our Luna WarmStart RT-based product, we’ve achieved a one-step RT-qPCR mix that provides the same high level of performance delivered by our liquid master mix. As a standard catalog offering, this will lower barriers to a high-quality lyophilized reagent and simplify the RT-qPCR assay development process.”

When compared to the liquid Luna Probe One-Step 4X RT-qPCR Mix with UDG, as well as similar commercially available one-step RT-qPCR products, using New England Biolabs’ distinct “dots in boxes” scoring method—a high-throughput data visualization tool that provides quality scores for qPCR outcomes—the performance of the lyophilized LyoPrime Luna RT-qPCR master mix strongly matched the liquid version.

“The launch of LyoPrime Luna Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Mix will showcase the first of many NEB lyophilized products that we hope will change the market’s perception of ambient, stable molecular reagents”, says Martin Lee, managing director of Fluorogenics. “Customers everywhere will benefit from state-of-the-art real-time PCR performance in a more flexible format that additionally reduces the environmental impact of cold shipment and storage.”

Other essential components of the LyoPrime Luna RT-qPCR master mix include Luna WarmStart Reverse Transcriptase and Hot Start Taq DNA Polymerase, for optimized specificity and robustness, in addition to room temperature setup after resuspension. The lyophilized mix also contains Murine RNase Inhibitor, dNTPs, and a passive reference dye, offering compatibility across multiple instrument platforms. Is also incorporates thermolabile UDG, which is well-suited to RNA workflows, and dUTP to reduce carryover contamination risk between reactions.

The LyoPrime Luna RT-qPCR master mix represents NEB’s first lyophilized product since the company’s acquisition of Fluorogenics Limited in 2021. Combining the reagent expertise of NEB and the lyophilization capabilities of Fluorogenics enables the creation of catalog and custom reagents that serve customers in both the research and molecular diagnostics space.

For more details about the new LyoPrime Luna Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Mix with UDG, visit www.neb.com/L4001.

Featured image: The LyoPrime Luna Probe One-Step RT-qPCR Mix with UDG. Photo: New England Biolabs