Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced an efficient, high-resolution method for detecting genetically modified (GM) content in food products. Researchers can use this method to rapidly screen samples before running the expensive and time-consuming analyses required to quantify GM content.

There remains an ongoing debate about how food products that contain GM ingredients should be regulated, labeled and detected. Consumer concern about the use of GM organisms in food is high, particularly in Europe. DNA analysis is currently the most effective analytical approach for detecting GM ingredients in a wide range of food, from raw to highly processed.

Real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is the most widely accepted method for quantifying GM DNA. However, this method is expensive (up to $300 for a single analysis) and time consuming, requiring assay calibration for each sample lot and multiple replicates of each unknown compound. Most laboratories, therefore, conduct a generic GM content screen of samples before performing a complete quantitative analysis.

The traditional method for testing these samples uses gel electrophoresis, which is clumsy and less than optimal for screening multiplex PCR products. When gel electrophoresis is optimized for rapid screening, only a marginal separation of multiple analytes is achieved. For GM screening, the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer provides several advantages over gel electrophoresis in terms of resolution, convenience and speed of analysis.

In this new method, Agilent scientists used an Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer with DNA 500 LabChip® to resolve and detect multiplex PCR products corresponding to GM DNA segments in corn and soybeans. The multiplex products were produced using Promega's Biosmart Allin 1.0 GMO Screening System, a nested multiplex PCR assay. Resolution and sensitivity were sufficient to identify all the multiplex PCR targets and to differentiate these targets from PCR artifacts.

Further information is available by requesting Agilent application note "Nested Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Determination of DNA from Genetically Modified Corn and Soybeans Using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer," Agilent publication 5989-0124EN. This note is available without charge from any Agilent sales office or on Agilent's Web site at www.agilent.com/chem.

Agilent Technologies Inc. is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 29,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $6.1 billion in fiscal year 2003.