Starna develops unique Quantitation & Control Standard reference material for nucleic acid analysis

A unique stable material has been developed by Dr. Chris Burgess in conjunction with Starna's Technical Division, that exhibits similar spectral characteristics to pure DNA. This robust and durable standard reference material allows quick and reliable quality control and assurance of the DNA 260/280 nm measurement process.

This control material has been specifically designed to assure the wavelength accuracy in critical nucleic acid measurements. The reference has a quoted production batch, 260/280 corrected absorbance ratio of 1.9 ± 0.1. Spectrophotometric measurements falling within this tolerance indicate that the wavelength scale is accurate to ± 1 nm. If values are found outside 1.9 ± 0.1, then they provide diagnostic evidence of the extent and the direction of the wavelength error. This standard, as all the Starna Certified Reference Material range, is produced in an ISO 17025 and ISO Guide 34 accredited environment, meeting the highest available regulatory standards.

The new Starna DNACON260/280 material, which suffers from none of the inherent stability problems associated with DNA, has been created for use as a new reliable NIST traceable Quality Control Standard by clinical and bioscience laboratories analysing and evaluating the purity of a range of nucleic acids such as DNA, RNA, RNAi and ssDNA. The new material’s special properties offer QC laboratories a level of performance and control verification not previously available.

The permanently heat-fused sealed reference material with a defined 260/280 ratio can be used at regular intervals to validate a measurement sequence at key quality control points.

The flame sealed Far-UV cuvette format of the standard not only provides the first re-usable and long-lasting standard for common nucleic acid assays but also may be supplied in the future as a consumable product for use with the ultra-low (less than 5ul) volume measurement systems currently being made available by several vendors.

DNA based QC materials for routine use are not a viable proposition for process verification, as the chemistry of molecular and microbiological organic substances is complicated and the materials themselves are often difficult to characterize, handle, package, store and certify. Even with costly protective measures in place, the stability of DNA materials is always questionable because changes are constantly occurring within the materials themselves. For example, DNA profiling reference materials currently available to the law enforcement community are liable to change and for this reason must undergo continuous retesting.

The new Starna standard overcomes all the above problems, and allows full validation of data quality with regard to wavelength calibration at these significant values.