Using Droplet Digital PCR™ to Study Stem Cell Genomes at Stanford University

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Bio-Rad Laboratories

"For more info, visit http://www.bio-rad.com/yt/6/QX200-DropletDigitalPCR. Since its introduction two years ago, Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR™) technology has transformed multiple fields of research including infectious disease, cancer biomarker analysis, and genomic variation analysis. In this webinar, Prof. Alexander Urban at the Stanford School of Medicine discusses how the Urban lab used the QX200 ddPCR system to investigate copy number variation in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), an offshoot their studies of normal and abnormal brain development and function related to autism. The prevalance of these types of somatic gemomic variations in human tissues was only recently recognized, and their detection, exact mapping and their effects on multiple levels of molecular control and regulation (e.g., DNA methylation, chromatin conformation, and gene expression patterns) have implications for the implementation of stem cell studies and possible therapeutic applications of stem cells. The Droplet Digital PCR system allows for the quantification of target DNA with unrivaled precision by partitioning samples into 20,000 nanoliter-sized droplets. After PCR on a thermal cycler, PCR-positive and PCR-negative droplets are counted to provide absolute quantification of the target DNA. The QX200 system, Bio-Rad's second-generation digital PCR system, provides absolute quantification of target DNA or RNA molecules using EvaGreen or TaqMan hydrolysis probes, yielding unmatched sensitivity and precision for a wide variety of applications. http://www.bio-rad.com/en-us/category/digital-pcr?WT.mc_id=yt-dbc-ww-qx200-20140127-SpvBr6Z06po"