ATDBio - Using Oligonucleotides to Assist with the Fight Against COVID-19

ATDBio is an oligonucleotide synthesis company based in Southampton and Oxford, UK, specializing in making high quality oligonucleotides for demanding applications. The knowledge and deep understanding of nucleic acid chemistry, combined with years of experience, are among the many reasons ATDBio is sought after for custom oligonucleotide synthesis. These small pieces of single-stranded DNA and RNA made by chemical synthesis, have important uses in all aspects of molecular biology, genetics, medicine and beyond, but they have recently made front-page news as the major component in COVID-19 testing kits. As a result, the ATDBio has seen major changes to its business during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Tom Brown Jnr, Director, explained:

"All current genetic COVID-19 testing methods require synthetic oligonucleotide primers and probes. We work with our customers, including UK hospitals and private companies, to help them develop simpler, faster and more accurate diagnostic methods. We've been inundated with enquiries since the advent of the pandemic, and we're scaling up our oligonucleotide synthesis capability significantly in order to meet this demand." 

Shimadzu’s reputation for robustness, innovation, product longevity and customer service were just some of the reasons ATDBio selected Shimadzu LC Nexera Prep systems and MultiNA - microchip electrophoresis system as part of its production workflow. 

 

 

Dr Brown added:

“Almost every lab I’ve worked in seems to have had an old Shimadzu UV/Vis spectrometer, still going strong. I also remember reading about a Shimadzu employee winning the Nobel Prize as a student in 2002. We visited the Shimadzu laboratory in Milton Keynes, met some of the staff, and were particularly impressed with their knowledge, willingness to understand our challenges, and ability to find us a system that was a match for our needs. Shimadzu’s appreciation of our needs, along with delivery and support of a trustworthy solution was beyond our previous experience.”

As part of their recent scale-up, ATDBio purchased several more Shimadzu LC systems. The company synthesizes oligonucleotides on different scales, from very small amounts for research purposes, to very large quantities of qPCR and LAMP primers and probes for COVID-19 tests. Therefore, having the ability to work reliably across a wide range of synthesis scales is crucial. ATDBio will continue to make a significant contribution to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as improving our preparedness for future outbreaks. Shimadzu will surely be there to help.

 

 

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