Digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) differs from traditional PCR in sample testing and analysis. Rather than amplifying the DNA segment from bulk study samples, ddPCR assays fragment individual DNA segments into thousands of partitions, creating unique reaction mixtures. By partitioning the samples, ddPCR assays enable direct quantification of DNA molecules in a sample without the need for reference standards.

The inherited robustness, sensitivity, and precision of ddPCR assays make them particularly attractive in quality control studies, for example, quality control assessments in cell therapy and AAV vector genome analysis. The current article discusses quality control in ddPCR Services for ensuring reliability and reproducibility in quantitative analysis.

ddPCR services and quality control

Earlier ddPCR gene expression and copy number analysis was viewed as a highly sophisticated and technical analysis. This assessment required the generation, determination, and quantification of thousands of individual droplets using diverse instruments. However, new technological solutions have tried to overcome this barrier. Today, ddPCR analysis is more user-friendly as generating and reading PCR droplets are now automated. A perfect example of this integration and automation is Bio-rads commercialized QX ONE platform. This system has all ddPCR steps combined into a single platform that can analyze 480 samples per day. 

qPCR CRO often has dedicated standards and quality controls for their experiments. ddPCR assays are a different quality control system. Traditional drug availability and pharmacokinetics Services and assays measure the drug considerations in the plasma. However, evaluating cellular drug concentration requires accurate measurements of cells. For example, studies have found significant variability in peripheral blood mononuclear cell counts depending on the method of counting, site, as well as technician and operator levels. Here, researchers have employed ddPCR assays to measure cell numbers with accuracy and reproducibility even across different labs. 

Today, several researchers are using ddPCR assays for cell counting in various tissue samples. These applications include adopting ddPCR to normalize tissues collected from several human and non-human primates. Additionally, groups have realized the benefits of cell counting using ddPCR assays. Hence, several cancer research studies use ddPCR systems for precisely quantifying cells, for example, axicabtagene ciloleucel CD-19-CAR T cells. 

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In the current era of high throughput and rapid genetic analysis, researchers are storing DNA samples in deep freezers. They often use UV absorbance, gel electrophoresis, and qPCR assays to monitor the condition of stored DNA. However, newer studies have demonstrated the viability of ddPCR systems for this particular application. ddPCR assays can accurately determine DNA plasma standard levels and provide a reliable estimation of DNA loss because of degradation. Importantly, ddPCR assays can provide sensitive data on identifying the exact loss of DNA. The applications of ddPCR assays in evaluating stored DNA have the same benefits: more sensitivity, doesn't need reference standards and requires fewer sample volumes. Hence, ddPCR analysis faces fewer measurement errors.

In Conclusion

Combining all the advantages of ddPCR systems with recent technological advances in ddPCR instrumentation, it is obvious why more researchers and scientists have embraced ddPCR services and solutions for a broad spectrum of biomedical applications.