CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing has transformed cell biology research. The bottleneck it created is genotyping: confirming which clones carry the target modification. Using conventional proteinase K digestion, that process takes 3 to 6 weeks.

Application Note 018, a collaboration between Vaxxinova Nederland and Exymes, compared prepGEM Universal directly with the proteinase K protocol for viral DNA extraction from infected cells. The Exymes method produced stronger PCR bands in 7 minutes; the Proteinase K protocol took 35 minutes and produced weaker bands at low cell densities (1,500 cells per well).

The note also demonstrates single-tube extraction-PCR, extraction and amplification in the same tube; producing a clear signal on as few as 1,500 cells.

For CRISPR workflows, clone selection time from editing to confirmed sequence drops from 3–6 weeks to 24–48 hours.