New England Biolabs has launched a magnetic bead-based extraction kit designed to improve the isolation of circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) from biofluids, supporting research into next-generation liquid biopsy applications.

The Monarch Mag Cell-free RNA Extraction Kit is intended to recover low-abundance cfRNA from plasma, serum, urine and cerebrospinal fluid while reducing DNA contamination that can affect downstream sequencing and amplification.

The launch reflects growing interest in cfRNA as a complementary biomarker to circulating cell-free DNA, offering researchers additional insights into tissue origin, gene expression and disease progression.

Growing interest in cell-free RNA

Liquid biopsy has traditionally relied on analysis of circulating cell-free DNA to identify tumour mutations and monitor disease. However, researchers are increasingly investigating cfRNA because it provides information about active biological processes and changes in gene expression.

Unlike DNA, RNA reflects which genes are being expressed by cells at a particular point in time, making it a potentially valuable biomarker for cancer, neurological disorders and other diseases.

Recovering sufficient quantities of intact cfRNA remains technically challenging because the molecules are present at very low concentrations and are susceptible to degradation.

New England Biolabs said its new workflow combines chaotropic salt chemistry with magnetic silica beads to provide a phenol-free alternative to conventional extraction methods while preserving a broad range of RNA molecules, including long non-coding RNAs, small RNAs and microRNAs.

The company also incorporates a lyophilised DNase treatment to minimise contaminating DNA that could interfere with downstream analysis.

Anagha Kadam, applications and product development scientist II at New England Biolabs, said: “While cfDNA has been the standard nucleic acid analyte in liquid biopsies, cfRNA carries information cfDNA cannot: which tissue a signal came from, and how pathology is changing over time.”

She added: “This kit offers researchers consistent recovery of low abundance cfRNA and removal of DNA contamination so they can assess this valuable but under-investigated analyte.”

Supporting sequencing and molecular analysis

The extraction kit has been developed to support a range of downstream molecular biology applications, including sequencing, transcriptome analysis, small RNA profiling and digital PCR.

New England Biolabs said the kit complements its existing cell-free DNA extraction workflow, enabling laboratories to process both nucleic acid types using compatible methodologies.

The company has also designed the product to support laboratory automation and larger sample volumes.

Temperature-sensitive reagents are supplied in a lyophilised format, allowing the kit to be transported at ambient temperature rather than under cold-chain conditions.

According to the company, this simplifies shipping and storage while reducing packaging requirements.

James Deng, senior product marketing manager at New England Biolabs, said researchers increasingly require support across complete molecular workflows rather than for individual laboratory steps.

He said: “Researchers come to our technical support with challenges that span steps of their workflow and questions about emerging applications, such as specific extraction of cfDNA and cfRNA.”

Liquid biopsy continues to evolve

Although circulating cell-free DNA remains the most established analyte for liquid biopsy, interest in RNA-based biomarkers has accelerated as researchers seek earlier disease detection and more detailed information about tumour biology and treatment response.

Improved extraction methods may help overcome one of the practical barriers limiting wider adoption of cfRNA analysis in research settings.

As sequencing technologies continue to advance, the ability to recover high-quality circulating RNA from small clinical samples is expected to become increasingly important across oncology, neurology and other areas of precision medicine.

The launch of New England Biolabs’ extraction kit reflects this broader trend, with the company positioning the technology as part of an end-to-end workflow for cell-free nucleic acid analysis.

While the product is intended for research use, developments that improve the quality and reproducibility of cfRNA extraction could contribute to future advances in biomarker discovery and liquid biopsy technologies.