HCR™ Gold Release Notes

It's been an exciting journey over the past six years as we've witnessed users conduct amazing research using HCR™ products around the world. At MI, our commitment to meaningfully advancing the capabilities of our tools has always guided our actions, driven by our dedication to better serving the evolving needs of the scientific community.

We're excited to announce our most significant advancement since 2018: the launch of HCR™ Gold, a collection of assays (RNA-FISH, IF), designed to enable the next generation of cutting-edge biological research. This launch packs over half a decade of learnings and optimizations into a release that is remarkably full-featured: 

HCR™ HiFi Probes

• Next-generation HCR™ HiFi Probes build on our innovative fractional initiator probe design, which launched with v3.0, and feature an array of under-the-hood improvements that enable significant enhancements in performance across targets and sample types.
• HCR™ HiFi Probes are designed to be compatible with the upcoming HCR™ Ultra-powered RNA-FISH assays. HCR™ Ultra will offer unprecedented performance over the already best-in-class HCR™ Gold, offering up to 100× greater signal.
• HCR™ HiFi Probes also enable the use of a reformulated, milder HCR™ HiFi Probe Wash Buffer that improves signal-to-background and enables us to ship them at 4× concentration.

Expanded Catalog of Fluorophores

• We're expanding the HCR™ Gold Amplifier catalog to offer users even more accessibility when designing experiments. The webstore will now offer up to 10 distinct HCR™ Gold Amplifier/fluor combinations as part of the standard catalog available at small scales: 405,425, 488, 514, 546, 594, 633/647, 700, 750, and 800.

Continued Flexibility

• HCR™ Gold Amplifiers will be available as X1-X10 systems. Each of these systems will be available with at least one fluorophore in our standard catalog.
• To continue offering users flexibility with changing fluorescent channels without needing to purchase new probes, the X1-X3 systems will be available with any of our three most popular fluorescent channels (488, 546, 647).

Protocol Enhancements

• We've made significant updates to our protocols to ensure a smoother, more comprehensive experience for your experiments.
• Our newly revamped HCR™ Gold RNA-FISH User Guide provides clearer instructions, making the staining process more straightforward without the need to sift through multiple protocols. This enhanced guide also introduces more customizable options, empowering users to optimize both the performance and speed of their assays with ease.

HCR™ HiFi Probe Promise

• Your satisfaction is our priority. That's why we're introducing the HiFi Probe Promise, launching initially in the US and UK. If your probes don't work as expected, reach out to us at support@molecularinstruments.com, and we'll work with you to replace your HCR™ HiFi Probe free of charge.

Please note that the v3.0 assay is not compatible with HCR™ Gold or HCR™ Ultra assays. However, we will continue to support all HCR™ RNA-FISH (v3.0) assays.

We're so excited about these advancements and can't wait to see how they will empower you to make even more incredible discoveries in your research. Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to unlock the full potential of our products!