ICE delivers high-throughput, next-gen sequencing quality CRISPR editing analysis

Redwood City, Calif. – January 29, 2018 - Synthego, a leading provider of genome engineering solutions, announces today the launch of ICE, a powerful new tool named “Inference of CRISPR Edits.” ICE software offers rapid, reproducible analysis of Sanger data, which costs a hundred times less than next-gen sequencing (NGS). ICE is free to use and open source, and the only CRISPR analysis software featuring batch processing of Sanger data.

According to BioInformatics’ 2017 Market for CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing Products report, 80 percent of respondents ranked validation of genome editing results the most pressing CRISPR workflow challenge. “Rapid advancement of CRISPR research requires reliable tools that are easy-to-use, cost-effective and deliver trustworthy results,” said Kevin Holden, Ph.D., Head of Synthetic Biology, Synthego. “Our ICE software puts high-quality gene editing analysis in reach for all CRISPR researchers.”

Before the availability of ICE, rapid and affordable analysis of CRISPR editing outcomes was a significant challenge facing researchers. NGS is the gold standard for genome editing analysis. However, NGS cost and turnaround time create significant bottlenecks in the CRISPR workflow. Other methods are fast but lack quality and consistency in their results.

Dr. Holden goes on to say, “ICE is intuitive and provides NGS-quality results in a few seconds using only Sanger sequencing data.”

Featuring an easy-to-use interface, ICE provides insertion and deletion (indel) percentage, indel contributions and total discordance against wild-type sequence data for up to hundreds of samples at a time.

“ICE not only produces reliable indel data compared to the alternative algorithms, but it also generates publication-quality indel spectrums and Sanger traces instantly,” said Dr. Daniel Dever, Research Instructor in the Porteus Lab at Stanford University. “ICE has the potential to become a standard for CRISPR analysis.”

"We built ICE to support our complex analysis needs internally," said Rich Stoner, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Synthego. "We're releasing it as a free website and open source tool for the broader CRISPR research community to improve the field's access to fast and consistent edit outcome analyses."

ICE joins Synthego’s growing family of CRISPR software tools and portfolio of CRISPRevolution synthetic guide RNA to provide an end-to-end solution for CRISPR researchers everywhere.

To read “Inference of CRISPR Edits from Sanger Trace Data” published on bioRxiv, please visit https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/01/20/251082

ICE is free and available at ice.synthego.com.

About Synthego

Synthego is a leading provider of genome engineering solutions. The company's product portfolio includes software and synthetic RNA kits designed for CRISPR genome editing and research. With next-generation informatics and machine learning, Synthego’s vision is to bring precision and automation to genome engineering, enabling rapid and cost-effective research with consistent results for every scientist.

Please visit www.synthego.com for more information.