Without the need for invasive biopsies, researchers and clinicians can now investigate disease-related genetic markers and cell-surface markers and can monitor their patients' nutritional or disease status. The yield is several million live cells per gram of stool sample, enabling us to build cell-based archives representing a patient's natural history, biopsy-free. Over 15 years in development, this technology has been used to isolate cells from human, rat, mouse, cattle, dog, cat, monkey, goat, and sheep samples.

Comparison of DNA extraction from 200mg whole stool and extraction from 200mg equivalent of cells. Compares yield after hold times of 0 hrs (direct extraction only), 3 hrs, and 24 hrs at room temperature. The same DNA extraction kit was used in all cases.

PRODUCTS
SCSR™ is the only available kit for isolating cells from fecal samples. Our preservative medium allows samples to be shipped at room temperature for up to 5 days. The isolation procedure is a simple step-gradient centrifugation followed by washing in PBS. Cells can be analyzed for protein, DNA, and RNA and can be archived for future use. Tests show that DNA extraction from stool is enormously improved with pre-isolation of cells. Our centrifugal approach surpasses bead or column capture, because all cell types are isolated, and no release step is required. [Click for product page] [Click for technical information]

We also offer SCSR-T™, a general purpose preservative and room-temperature transport medium for biological samples. It has been formulated to maintain the integrity and viability of eukaryotic cells for downstream analysis. Samples preserved using SCSR-T can be transported at room-temperature and used for cell isolation, cell culture, DNA and RNA extraction, intracellular microbial analysis, analysis of viral integration into the host genome, pharmacogenomics, nutrient-gene interaction studies. SCSR-T™ is non-toxic and non-hazardous. [Click for product page] [Click for technical information]

R&D
Our 2000 square foot lab, located on the I-95 corridor between Baltimore and Washington, is equipped for performing flow cytometry, cell isolation, nucleic acid extraction, PCR, real-time PCR, tissue-culture. Equipment includes a Becton-Dickinson FacsCalibur flow cytometer w/sorter, Fujifilm QuickGene nucleic acid extraction system, ABI Prism thermocycler, and multiple Bio-Rad thermocyclers. [Contact us]

Adult progenitor cells isolated from stool samples (GIP-C: Gastrointestinal Progenitor Cells)