OREANDA-NEWS. February 15, 2016.  Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced a program that gives biologists conducting functional genomics research early access to a potential new resource: custom CRISPR guideRNA libraries using Agilent's high-quality oligo library synthesis platform.

Agilent announced the early access program at a technology conference—Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT)—which continues through Friday in Orlando, Florida.

The custom SureGuide gRNA libraries will complement Agilent's SureGuide Cas9 nuclease kit when that kit is available for commercial release. Both will be part of an integrated solution for research involving clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (known as CRISPR systems) and associated genes.

Researchers are excited about CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology because it enables scientists doing large-scale, functional genomics screens to investigate the role of genetic mutations in human disease. With CRISPR libraries, researchers have access to the first system that can fully remove the function of genes at the DNA level, compared with other tools like RNA interference that suppress gene expression at the RNA level.

"We are pleased to provide researchers with early access to custom SureGuide gRNA for evaluation," said Alessandro Borsatti, the head of product marketing for Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics Group. "This program will accelerate the ability of researchers to identify critical sequences responsible for a gene's functional properties and enable them to perform targeted genome editing with unprecedented ease."

Scientists who would like to take part in the early access program and provide feedback to Agilent can sign up at www.agilent.com/genomics/CRISPREA.

At AGBT today, Israel Steinfeld, a scientist from Agilent Labs, will deliver a presentation titled "Improved Methods and Analysis Tools for Efficient CRISPR/Cas Genome Editing."