Overview
Nucleic acid amplification is one of the most commonly performed molecular biology techniques and is a necessary precursor to a range of methods from gene cloning and site-directed mutagenesis to the quantitative analysis of gene expression. The Nucleic Acid Amplification Dashboard was developed from responses to a 21-question survey by 492 scientists predominantly located in North America and Europe. This Dashboard reveals key market indicators for the nucleic acid amplification market as a whole as well as for the following sub-segments:
- Difficult PCR (e.g. GC rich, complex, long targets)
- Digital PCR
- Emulsion PCR
- Fast PCR
- High Fidelity PCR
- High Resolution Melt (using real time PCR instrument)
- Standard endpoint PCR
- Standard endpoint RT-PCR
- qPCR (real time PCR with genomic DNA template)
- qRT-PCR (real time PCR with RNA or cDNA template)
While standard protocols may be well-defined, amplification markets are quite fluid, with significant influence from such external sources as:
- An evolving intellectual property landscape
- New pricing strategies from established suppliers
- Application to emerging research areas such as gene silencing, SNP genotyping and rapid, whole genome sequencing
In order to dive more deeply into the characteristics and dynamics of the market for nucleic acid amplification products, Percepta has introduced the Nucleic Acid Amplification Dashboard, designed to take a snapshot of the current market landscape with the future goal of repeating and publishing the study to give Dashboard readers the ongoing story of how the market is adapting to new products, new competitors and new sales and marketing strategies.
Survey Methodology
In July of 2011, Percepta fielded the Nucleic Acid Amplification Survey to a subset of the Percepta BioAnalytix™ Panel of life scientists. Individuals were invited by e-mail blast to click-through to a webpage at perceptabioanalytix.com where the survey was hosted. Invitations were delivered beginning on July 22, 2011 and results collected through August 3, 2011. A total of 492 scientists participated in the survey, of which 477 are actively engaged in performing nucleic acid amplification and 6 plan to use nucleic acid amplification methods in the next 12 months. Results based on the aggregate of collected responses are revealed in this Nucleic Acid Amplification Dashboard.
Respondent Demographics
Respondents from the academic, government and commercial market segments are well represented, with 18.9% of respondents employed in an industry setting. 71.7% of respondents are from North America, while 26.7% reside in Europe.
Junior (Lab Technician, Graduate Student), mid-level (Post-Doctoral Fellow, Lab Manager) and senior (Professor/PI, Group Leader) scientists are well represented in the data set, with the most cited job titles being Professor/PI/Instructor (21.3% of respondents), Scientist/Senior Scientist (18.9% of respondents) and Post-Doctoral Fellow/Research Fellow (17.3% of respondents).
A wide variety of scientific areas of specialization is also evident, led by cell biology (named by 18.3% of respondents as their primary area of expertise), followed by biochemistry (15.9%) and microbiology/infectious disease/virology (12.0%).
Small (1-5 scientists), medium (6-20 scientists) and large (>20 scientists) laboratories are well represented: 55.3% of respondents work in labs where 1 to 5 people perform nucleic acid amplification experiments at least a few times each year; 37.6% in labs with 6 to 20 experimenters, and the remaining 7.1% in labs with greater than 20 bench scientists.
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