Virginia Bioinformatics Institute expands genome sequencing services, adds Illumina platform
The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute has installed an Illumina Genome Analyzer at its Core Laboratory Facility on the Virginia Tech campus.
The Illumina Genome Analyzer, a powerful tool for genomic discovery in biology and medicine, is a fast, flexible, and accurate system for cracking the genetic code of life.
Clive Evans, director of the Core Laboratory Facility at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, commented: “We are extremely pleased to announce the availability of genome sequencing services on the Illumina Genome Analyzer platform. This addition to our next-generation genome sequencing capabilities will significantly increase the amount of sequence data we are able to generate at [the institute’s] Core Laboratory Facility and bring immediate benefits to our rapidly growing customer base interested in state-of-the-art genome sequencing applications.”
The ability to sequence hundreds of millions of pieces of DNA in parallel makes the Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx system one of the most competitive genome sequencing systems on the market.
Said Harold “Skip” Garner, executive director at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute: “We are excited to announce the introduction of further state-of-the-art technologies and services at our Core Laboratory Facility on the Virginia Tech campus. Our core facilities do great work and have a fantastic track record in meeting the needs of our customers.”
He added: “In addition to whole genome and de novo sequencing, targeted resequencing, and transcriptome analysis, we are very excited about the Illumina’s capabilities for target enrichment and CHipSeq1 applications. These applications add considerable value to research efforts since they allow scientists grappling with huge amounts of genomic data to hone in on specific areas of the genome that are of the most interest.”
The launch of the Illumina Genome Analyzer coincides with the availability of approved service costs for shotgun genome sequencing on the Illumina platform. The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute’s current offerings for genome sequencing also include a Roche GS-FLX™ Titanium next-generation sequencing system (shotgun, amplicon, transcriptome, paired-end runs).
Concluded Garner: “The availability of best-in-class sequencing technologies encourages innovation across our university and greatly expands the highly competitive genomic services we are able to offer our clients around the globe. These technologies and services are helping us in our quest to accelerate the application of genomics to biology and medicine.”
1 Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing.
Detailed information on services and rates is available online.
