Sigma-Aldrich
negotiated a worldwide license agreement to manufacture and commercialize
Polyplus-transfection’s Zip Nucleic Acid (ZNA™) oligonucleotides for research applications. The company points out it will be the first to offer ZNA as custom DNA and RNA oligos to the life science industry.
ZNA’s are oligonucleotides with attached cationic units. Polyplus claims the cationic residues increases the sensitivity of the oligos and results in increased affinity for nucleic acids without the loss of selectivity. Research applications of ZNAs include their use as PCR probes and primers, for in vitro miRNA detection and inhibition, and for siRNA applications.