Twist Bioscience Corporation, a business that helps clients succeed by providing high-quality synthetic DNA utilising its silicon platform, has introduced two synthetic DNA controllers for the human monkeypox virus.
Positive controls offer quality assurance checks for the creation, confirmation, and continuous validation of both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) tests. The Congo Basin (Central African) clade and the West African clade, the latter of which has been identified as the major clade in the present multi-country outbreak, are both included in the Twist synthetic DNA controls for the monkeypox virus.
“The monkeypox controls are the most recent addition to our expanding portfolio of synthetic controls and reference standards that empower our customers to develop research and diagnostic tests to improve global health. They also complement our growing suite of NGS applications for viral diseases, including the Twist Pan-Viral Panel, which was used by researchers to characterize the monkeypox pathogen in a previous outbreak and highlighted in The Lancet”, “As new and existing pathogens emerge as public health concerns, we will continue to rapidly develop tools to enable cutting edge research that improve global health outcomes.”
Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience
The monkeypox synthetic DNA controls, which encompass more than 80% of the entire viral genome and are sequence-verified using NGS and ddPCR, were created based on specific monkeypox clades. The genome is tiled by 1.8kb of overlapping sections that make up each control. Customers that purchase synthetic controls are subject to all applicable laws and regulations, as well as Twist’s industry-leading biosecurity and consumer screening processes. International clients will need to get an export authorization.
A variety of research tools and NGS products are offered by Twist, such as custom controls and reference standards for monkeypox, respiratory illnesses like coronaviruses, influenza viruses, paramyxoviruses, and enteroviruses, liquid biopsies, and malignancies. The Twist Pan-Viral Panel, which contains more than 600,000 probes for the targeted enrichment of more than 1,000 viral human pathogens, including those that cause monkeypox, the Zika virus, and other diseases, is another product offered by Twist. Researchers used the Twist Pan-Viral Panel to check blood samples for viral content in a 2018 study that was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases to investigate the genetics and source of a monkeypox virus outbreak in Nigeria.
