
TcBuster™ Non-Viral Gene Engineering
From Proof Of Concept To Process Development
Realize the potential of gene engineering by using TcBuster to deliver your genes of interest. Gene editing is a powerful tool for fine tuning cell phenotype in immune cell and regenerative medicine therapies, and it can augment therapeutic effectiveness by increasing cell potency and persistence in vivo.
Partner with our experts to engineer T cells, NK cells, feeder cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) for your cell therapy program.
Why Use TcBuster For Gene Engineering?
TcBuster is a non-viral transposon system that enables stable gene transfer into mammalian cells. It supports the rapid generation of transgenic cells and is a valuable tool for both proof-of-concept and manufacturing scale process development. Gene editing with TcBuster has widespread applications including:
- Cancer immunotherapies – introduction of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or TCRs; inactivation of negative regulatory molecules; masking therapeutic cells from host immunity
- Gene therapy – delivery of genes into host cells to correct genetic defects
- Disease models – development of animal models carrying disease-associated molecular variants
- Drug discovery – modulating expression of proteins that serve as drug targets
- Diagnostic tools – upregulation of proteins for detection of infectious and non-infectious diseases
- Vaccine development – stable overexpression of viral proteins to elicit protective immunity

Overview of the TcBuster Transposon Mechanism
TcBuster is a large capacity transposon system that enables transfer and stable integration of genes of interest (GOI). TcBuster can replace the use of retroviral and lentiviral vectors, leading to significant time savings during the development of cell therapeutics.
Comparison of TcBuster and Virus-Based Systems
Sidestep the hurdles of gene engineering with lentivirus systems by using a non-viral method. The use of TcBuster avoids common viral method challenges including low transduction efficiency, inconsistent reagent availability, and an insecure supply chain for GMP-grade virus.
Virus-based gene delivery (e.g. with lentivirus or AAV) involves packaging of the GOI into the viral vector followed by transduction of target cells. TcBuster transposons can be quickly generated and electroporated into target cells. As shown in the graphic below, TcBuster protocols eliminate the lengthy step for viral vector packaging.
Enhance your cell engineering process with TcBuster and
- Shorten your cell engineering timeline and reduce the risk of delays.
- Integrate larger cargo sizes than with standard viral based methods. AAV can typically deliver 4-5 kb of DNA, while TcBuster can deliver >10 kb (enough for 2 TCRs plus an accessory protein).
- Maintain high efficiency gene transfer and stable expression. This enables rapid generation of transgenic mammalian cells with limited secondary effects and no selection steps.
- Reduce the costs of genetic modification.
- Exploit the flexibility of TcBuster to carry out additional gene editing techniques in one operation.

Steps In Partnering With Us

Realize the potential of gene engineering efficiently by partnering with our expert team. Whether you are new to the technique or represent a gene engineering core group with limited bandwidth, we will provide the same level of responsive partnership and customer service. We will connect scientist-to-scientist and walk through the entire project with you.
Project scope and experimental design
- Timelines, milestones, deliverables, and project team
- Custom requirements for deliverables
- Timely quote delivery
What to expect throughout the project
- Accessibility of project manager or technical lead to facilitate discussions
- Delivery of technical progress reports as defined in the statement of work (SOW)
- Shipment of cell samples and other materials for your testing
What defines project completion?
- Shipment of engineered cells in agreed-upon formulation, packaging, and labeling
- Delivery of characterization reports, documentation, and other deliverables as defined in the SOW
- Quarantine of extra materials
- Project offboarding and archiving
Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)
- Perform cell engineering with TcBuster in your own lab
- Research licenses to support long term discovery programs
- Commercial licenses for both therapeutics and ancillary materials
- Available to qualified laboratories

Bio-Techne believes in the power of partnerships. We have joined with Fresenius Kabi and Wilson Wolf to bring you ScaleReady™, lowering the barriers to entry into the immune cell therapy space for all sizes and stages of manufacturing programs. ScaleReady brings cell and gene therapies to life by offering a significant reduction of complexity and cost while consistently providing superior repeatability and cell quality.
The ScaleReady product portfolio supports scalable immune cell therapy solutions, delivering true platform, process, and product continuity for your immune cell programs. When paired with the Lovo® and Cue® functionally-closed-system automated cell processing systems, Bio-Techne reagents and the G-Rex® Bioreactor enable high throughput parallel processing of cell therapies within a small footprint.
Partner with ScaleReady for TcBuster applications in immune cell therapy. For other applications of TcBuster, contact a gene engineering expert at Bio-Techne.

This new eBook provides an overview of several biological and manufacturing challenges facing the development and production of T cell therapies. It follows with examples of how Bio-Techne products and services can address these challenges at each stage of the process.
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TcBuster is our proprietary transpose transposon genome engineering technology. Transposons are a virus-free way to over-express a particular protein in a cell line. Like the other systems it's a cut-and-paste transposon so you deliver your gene of interest (GOI) within a plasmid that's flanked by sequences that TcBuster recognizes. It cuts out your GOI and randomly inserts it into the genome. TcBuster is a virus-free way to overexpress pretty much any protein of interest in a cell.
Genome engineering unleashes new abilities to alter cells and advanced cell therapies. But even the most cutting-edge tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 and lentivirus have their limitations. To realize the full power of genome engineering, Bio-Techne developed a non-viral transposon gene delivery system, called TcBuster. Here's how it works. The TcBuster system consists of a plasmid containing the cargo sequence flanked on each side by inverted tandem repeats (ITRs), plus mRNA encoding the TcBuster transposase. Both components are delivered into the cells using standard transfection. Once inside the cell, the expressed transposase binds the ITRs, cuts out your sequence, and inserts it safely and randomly into the host genome. Whether you are generating cell lines, reprogramming iPSCs, or creating the next breakthrough CAR therapies, with TcBuster you can eliminate high cost, mutagenic potential, and cargo size constraints of virus-based methods for faster, more complex and potentially safer gene delivery. To benefit scientists everywhere from research to commercial scale, TcBuster is non-exclusively licensed. Learn how TcBuster can work for you by completing a project request form, and our team will contact you.