Scaling Down to Level Up: BN-020 Enables High-Resolution Study on Small Mouse Brain Biopsies

A recent Nature publication has delivered a major advance in neurogenomics, demonstrating that single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) can be successfully performed on mouse brain biopsies measuring just 2 mm × 1 mm. This achievement removes one of the field’s most persistent technical barriers—sample size and enables transcriptomic profiling of highly localized brain microstructures. Traditional nucleus isolation methods, such as Dounce homogenization, typically require 50 mg or more of tissue to compensate for unavoidable material loss. At the millimeter scale, these workflows risk losing the entire sample, making high-quality sequencing impractical. The Nature study directly addressed this limitation.

To process these ultra-small biopsies, the researchers employed the Minute™ Single Nucleus Isolation Kit for Neuronal Tissues/Cells (BN-020) from Invent Biotechnologies. The kit’s spin-column–based design proved essential for reliable nucleus recovery from extremely limited input material.

This work establishes a new benchmark for small-sample transcriptomics. By pairing next-generation sequencing with loss-minimizing nucleus isolation, researchers can now investigate brain regions previously considered “below the limit of detection.”

Citation: Oswell, C. S., Rogers, S. A., James, J. G., McCall, N. M., Hsu, A. I., Salimando, G. J., ... & Corder, G. (2026). Mimicking opioid analgesia in cortical pain circuits. Nature, 1-10.