Turning enzyme expertise into reverse transcriptase innovation

  • Published: 16 June 2026
Our previous Solis BioDyne history story ended in 2009, when the company had entered the era of master mixes, qPCR products, HRM technology, and ISO-certified quality. It closed with a promise: from 2010, Solis BioDyne had stepped into a whole new area of enzyme development.  

The 2010s became the decade when we moved deeper into reverse transcription, synthetic biology, and in silico enzyme design. Customer demand, scientific curiosity, and years of accumulated expertise in nucleic acid technologies led the company toward one of its most important development areas: reverse transcriptases for cDNA synthesis and RT-qPCR. 

What began as an ambitious R&D project led to FIREScript®, SOLIScript®, RiboGrip® RNase Inhibitor, and the SolisFAST® product line. Together, these technologies strengthened our position as both an enzyme developer and an enzyme producer. 

Why Solis BioDyne started developing reverse transcriptases 

Around 2010, Solis BioDyne’s newly launched master mixes and qPCR products were gaining traction. As customers became familiar with the company’s room-temperature-stable reagents and reliable PCR/qPCR performance, a new question started appearing more often: 

Do you also have reverse transcriptases? 

For researchers working with RNA, reverse transcriptase is a key enzyme. It converts RNA into complementary DNA, or cDNA, which can then be used in PCR, qPCR, RT-qPCR, gene expression analysis, viral RNA detection, and many other molecular biology workflows. 

At that time, we had limited resources, but the company had something more important: enzyme-development knowledge, practical production experience, and our founder Olev Kahre’s background in chemical nucleic acid synthesis (oligo synthesis), which is the core of synthetic biology. Instead of simply sourcing an existing enzyme, our team decided to develop its own reverse transcriptase technology. 

That decision marked the beginning of a new chapter. 

FIREScript®: Solis BioDyne’s first reverse transcriptase 

The first major result of Solis BioDyne’s reverse transcriptase development was FIREScript® KIT. 

FIREScript® Reverse Transcriptase was developed as a genetically engineered MMLV-based reverse transcriptase with improved thermostability and strong performance in RNA detection workflows. It’s suitable for first-strand cDNA synthesis, RT-PCR, and RT-qPCR.  

For reverse transcription, thermostability matters. RNA templates can form secondary structures that make cDNA synthesis more difficult. A reverse transcriptase that performs well at elevated temperatures can help improve specificity and efficiency when working with challenging RNA targets. 

After several years of development, FIREScript® was ready in small quantities by 2014 and entered the market in 2015. It became the foundation for a wider cDNA synthesis product family, including FIREScript® RT cDNA synthesis KIT and FIREScript® RT cDNA synthesis MIX. 

For us, FIREScript® was more than a new product. It proved that we can design, produce, and commercialize our own reverse transcriptase technology. 

SOLIScript®: engineering a thermostable reverse transcriptase 

Once FIREScript® was established, customers and application needs pushed the team further. Could Solis BioDyne create a reverse transcriptase with even higher temperature tolerance, better specificity, and more advanced performance? 

The answer became SOLIScript® KIT. 

SOLIScript® Reverse Transcriptase is an in silico-designed chimeric RNA-directed DNA polymerase. It is active at temperatures up to 60°C and is suitable for first-strand cDNA synthesis, RT-PCR, and RT-qPCR.  

The story behind SOLIScript® is also a story of synthetic biology.  The enzyme was inspired by the concept of chimeras: combining domains from different origins to create a new enzyme with valuable properties. SOLIScript® contains a reverse transcriptase domain from Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus and an RNase HII domain from Thermococcus litoralis, together with Solis BioDyne’s patented Stability TAG technology.  

Our founder, Olev Kahre, developed the first generation of SOLIScript®. Further development was carried forward by Angela Vaasa and our team, using the possibilities of synthetic biology to refine and improve the enzyme. 

At the time, synthetic biology was far more expensive than it is today. Each gene order, plasmid construct, and experimental design required careful planning. But the result was worth the effort: SOLIScript® became a patented, in-house-developed reverse transcriptase technology with high thermostability, strong specificity, and room-temperature stability. 

Today, the SOLIScript® family includes SOLIScript® RT cDNA synthesis KIT and SOLIScript® RT cDNA synthesis MIX, providing researchers with flexible formats for first-strand cDNA synthesis and RNA analysis. 

RiboGrip® RNase Inhibitor: protecting RNA during reverse transcription 

Developing a reverse transcriptase was only part of the challenge. Reliable RNA workflows also require RNA protection. 

RNases are one of the biggest enemies of RNA work. They are everywhere, highly stable, and capable of degrading RNA templates before reverse transcription can even begin. For cDNA synthesis, RT-PCR, RT-qPCR, RT-LAMP, and related workflows, an effective RNase inhibitor is essential. 
This need led Solis BioDyne to develop RiboGrip® RNase Inhibitor. 

RiboGrip® is an in silico-designed protein-based ribonuclease inhibitor that inactivates RNase A, RNase B, and RNase C. This made RiboGrip® a natural partner for FIREScript® and SOLIScript®. Together, reverse transcriptase and RNase inhibitor technologies gave us a stronger platform for RNA-based applications. 

From reverse transcription to 1-step RT-qPCR 

As our reverse transcriptase and RNase inhibitor technologies matured, the next customer need became clear: simpler RNA detection workflows. 
In 1-step RT-qPCR, cDNA synthesis and qPCR are performed in the same tube. This reduces handling, saves time, and helps minimize contamination risk. For diagnostic and high-throughput workflows, this kind of simplicity is especially valuable. 

We used our reverse transcriptase expertise to develop 1-step RT-qPCR solutions based on SOLIScript® technology. This led to products such as SOLIScript® 1-step Probe Kit, SOLIScript® 1-step Multiplex Probe Kit, and SOLIScript® 1-step SolisGreen® Kit. 

By combining reverse transcriptase, RNase inhibitor, and qPCR chemistry, we created tools for efficient RNA target detection — an area that would become especially important by 2020. 

SolisFAST®: faster PCR and qPCR enzyme development 

While reverse transcriptase development was progressing, another product-development direction was taking shape: speed. 

Customers wanted faster PCR and qPCR results, reliable performance, and strong tolerance to inhibitors across diverse sample types. Around 2016–2017, we began developing SolisFAST® DNA Polymerase and the broader SolisFAST® product line. 

SolisFAST® DNA polymerase is an in silico-designed analogue of Taq DNA polymerase with enhanced room-temperature stability, rapid hot-start activation, and faster extension than wild-type Taq DNA polymerase. 

Together, the reverse transcriptase technologies and SolisFAST® DNA polymerase platform gave us a strong portfolio for endpoint PCR, qPCR, cDNA synthesis, and RT-qPCR. 

Salini UNG®: protecting PCR workflows from carryover contamination 

Just as RiboGrip® helps protect RNA from degradation, Salini UNG® Uracil-N-Glycosylase was developed to protect PCR-based workflows from carryover contamination. Its development began during the 2010s, alongside Solis BioDyne’s other in-house enzyme projects, even though the finished product was launched later. 

Salini UNG® is a heat-labile enzyme based on a protein sequence from the bacterial genus Salinivibrio. It removes uracil-containing DNA from previous amplification reactions before a new PCR begins and incorporates our patented Stability TAG technology for enhanced room-temperature stability. 

Ready before the world changed in 2020 

By the time COVID-19 changed the world in 2020, Solis BioDyne was not starting from zero. 

Years of enzyme development had already created a foundation for RNA detection and qPCR-based workflows. We had developed reverse transcriptases, RNase inhibitor technology, fast DNA polymerases, probe- and dye-based qPCR solutions, endpoint PCR products, 1-step RT-qPCR expertise, and the foundations of UNG technology for carryover contamination prevention. 

That is one of the most important lessons from this chapter of Solis BioDyne’s history. Scientific readiness does not appear overnight. It is built through years of design, testing, troubleshooting, scale-up, production, and learning from customers. 

In 2018 and 2019, we also began laying the foundation for isothermal amplification and LAMP technology. That work would reach completion during the COVID period and later grow into the SoliSD™ technology. 

What makes Solis BioDyne different: we develop and produce our own enzymes 

We are not only a supplier of molecular biology reagents. We design enzymes. We optimize them. We produce them. We scale them. And because the know-how stays in-house, we can respond to customer needs with flexibility and technical depth. 

From FIREScript® to SOLIScript®, from RiboGrip® RNase Inhibitor to SolisFAST® DNA Polymerase and Salini UNG®, the development story of the 2010s shows how we built our expertise in enzyme engineering, synthetic biology, and molecular biology reagent production. 

This matters for researchers, diagnostic developers, OEM partners, and molecular biology innovators. When performance, stability, temperature tolerance, inhibitor tolerance, or workflow compatibility becomes critical, it helps to work with a company that understands the enzyme behind the reagent. 

The next generation is coming 

The story that began with FIREScript® and grew into SOLIScript® is still ongoing. 

Building on years of reverse transcriptase development, RNase inhibitor technology, qPCR chemistry, and in-house enzyme production, we are introducing a new generation of FIREScript® enzymes for demanding RNA applications. 

The new enzymes support stable benchtop workflows for up to 24 hours at room temperature, aided by their inherent warm-start properties. Their high thermostability enables efficient cDNA synthesis from structured RNA and supports workflows performed at elevated temperatures. Both enzymes are suitable for a wide range of research and diagnostic applications, delivering particularly strong performance with low-input, degraded, complex, inhibitor-rich, and otherwise difficult sample types. 

FIREScript® FLEX H(–) RT is designed for high-sensitivity and full-length cDNA synthesis. It is well-suited for gene expression analysis, long RNA templates, and single-cell RNA sequencing, where sensitivity, processivity, and reliable performance with limited starting material are essential.  

FIREScript® ULTRA H(+) is optimized for fast and robust RT-qPCR workflows, including targeted RNA detection, routine assays, pathogen detection, and high-throughput applications. 

In internal benchmarking against leading commercial reverse transcriptases, the new FIREScript® enzymes delivered the strongest performance. Together, these next-generation reverse transcriptases show how far Solis BioDyne’s enzyme-development expertise has come — from the first in-house RT projects of the early 2010s to advanced enzymes built for the RNA workflows of today and tomorrow.  

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