The new kit enables users of Purigen's Ionic purification system to extract high yields of RNA from swabs, biofluids, and transport media via an automated workflow, according to the company.

Introduced in 2019, the benchtop Ionic purification system facilitates the automated extraction of nucleic acids from a wide range of sample types, including cultured or sorted cells and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues, Purigen said. After biological samples are lysed and loaded into the Ionic fluidics chip, the system then applies an electrical field to the chip, isolating the nucleic acids in their native form using Purigen's core isotachophoresis (ITP) technology.

The nucleic acids are not bound or stripped from fixed surfaces, thereby minimizing nucleic acid loss and fragmentation and eliminating purification-induced bias, Purigen said. The company claims that the system's simplified workflow requires minimal hands-on time and produces higher yields of high-quality RNA and DNA that are representative of the starting sample.