Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR)

Historically, five-year survival rates have been used to evaluate cancer therapeutic effectiveness in clinical trials. But time is critical for research — and for patients. Fortunately, there is a promising method for evaluating cancer therapeutic effectiveness that could potentially offer prognostic insights after just one year. Noninvasive liquid biopsy analysis, including analysis of circulating tumor DNA, is improving researchers’ ability to detect clinical responses more rapidly.

As SARS-CoV-2 becomes an endemic agent worldwide, communities and health agencies must figure out how to identify novel variants and track infection rates in ways that are sustainable, sensitive, and accurate. Fortunately, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has proven its ability to play an important role in monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks, and Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) has become a cornerstone method for ongoing wastewater-based disease surveillance. In this article, we review the role of wastewater-based testing in community health before, during, and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, and we explore why ddPCR technology is ideally suited for this application as it continues to expand and evolve.

Cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide. However, as cancer treatments continue to improve and diagnoses happen sooner, more and more patients are experiencing remission. To further increase survival rates and reduce unnecessary treatment, scientists and clinicians are turning to ultra-sensitive molecular analysis to inform treatment decisions and predict and detect relapse.

Inadequate quality control assays shouldn’t limit cell and gene therapy applications. Instead, quantifying the potency of cell and gene therapies is essential for successful therapeutics. In this article, we describe multiple leading potency assays developed using Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology, including an assay that quantifies transgene integration and expression in one step.

Gene editing is only useful if it’s successful. Read how scientists are leveraging the unparalleled accuracy and specificity of ddPCR technology to optimize quality control in gene editing projects, including HIV detection and CAR-T cell generation.

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, trends point to a transition for the SARS-CoV-2 virus into an endemic agent. As major surveillance infrastructure scales back, it will be critical to maintain a cost-effective, simple, and rapid strategy for detecting and monitoring the spread of new variants. The key to such a strategy? Wastewater, where all disease agents leave their unique signature.

Wastewater-based epidemiology indirectly monitors infection rates in a community based on pathogen levels in local wastewater. Because symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals shed viral RNA in sewer systems, analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage networks can provide information about SARS-CoV-2 infections within the community. However, the accuracy of these data depends on the quality of the wastewater testing method. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Droplet Digital PCR has proven that it has the sensitivity needed to detect outbreaks and monitor SARS-CoV-2 variants in communities via wastewater testing.

Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) are an important addition to the immuno-oncology toolbox. Designed to recognize two distinct epitopes, bsAbs have enhanced binding, specificity, and efficacy compared to current monovalent antibody therapeutics, making them exciting candidates for more targeted cancer treatments. Learn about bsAbs and how our tools can help scientists with their research on therapeutic candidates.

The CAR T-cell manufacturing process involves high potential for variability. Learn how sensitive ddPCR assays can be used to ensure safety and efficacy.

As more of the cell and gene therapies revolutionizing healthcare are approved for use, innovator companies usually get the credit. But many therapies would never make it to market without the expertise and capabilities of contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) operating behind the scenes. Learn more about how CDMOs enable new cell and gene therapies to come to market, and how Droplet Digital PCR can help.