The Solid system Service Provider Programme is intended to provide the scientific community with broad access to a comprehensive solution for genomic research
Applied Biosystems has established a next-generation genomic analysis service provider programme for scientists interested in using the Solid system to answer biological questions that currently cannot be addressed with existing technologies.
Scientists may now access next-generation technology through several global service providers who have selected the Solid system to complete their genomics offerings.
By incorporating Solid into their services offerings, members of the programme are enabling scientists to use a single system to make meaningful associations between variations in the kinds and amounts of DNA or RNA and disease.
Solid is expected to help facilitate and simplify the identification, collection and analysis of genetic information.
Each of the service providers plan to use the Solid system to conduct a wide range of applications, including whole genome sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), microbial and eukaryotic resequencing, digital karyotyping, medical sequencing, genotyping, gene expression and small RNA discovery, among others.
Initial members of the programme include Agencourt Bioscience (United States), GATC Biotech (Germany), Seqwright DNA Sequencing (United States) and Sistemas Genomicos (Spain).
These are among the early customers of Solid, offering comprehensive services which include ultra high throughput genetic analysis, protocol assistance, and data storage and analysis to their respective end users.
One of the service providers, Agencourt Bioscience, a subsidiary of Beckman Coulter, currently has a Solid system in its genomic services sequencing operation and has recently acquired its second system.
Applied Biosystems has worked with Agencourt on a number of projects over the past few years and the two companies continue to collaborate on key projects, such as the mutation detection study in the genome of the ethanol-producing yeast, Pichia stipitis.
"We've been pleased with the data we see coming from the new solid system platform, and have numerous customer projects in process, including genome resequencing and methylation discovery," said Erick Suh, director of Agencourt.
"With two systems, we have additional bandwidth to serve our existing commercial and academic customers.
"The strength of Agencourt's commercial sequencing operation is further enhanced by the addition of the Solid system sequencers".
GATC is a service provider based in Germany that offers its DNA analysis expertise and sequencing capacity to strategic partners from academia and industry, and to customers who are interested in sequencing up to 100 human genomes by the end of 2010.
Solid will be utilised in combination with bioinformatic solutions which are expected to decrease the overall costs.
"The Solid system is ideal for the identification of indels, rearrangements and structural variants due to its mate pair libraries with large inserts," said Peter Pohl, GATC's CEO.
"We have already received sequencing orders for this exciting system prior to its finished installation".
Serving academic and pharmaceutical researchers with contract genomic solutions for more than 13 years is Houston, Texas-based SeqWright, a genomics service provider that offers an extensive genomics and molecular biology service portfolio.
SeqWright's adoption of Solid builds on a long-standing relationship with Applied Biosystems and increases its strength as a contract sequencing facility by allowing its team of scientists to expand the company's technology and bioinformatics support offerings.
"Our customers, both old and new, are becoming aware of the potential of this powerful new platform and are eager to consult with our team of experts to help guide them through the many applications of this technology," said David Buck, vice president of operations at SeqWright.
"The flexibility, accuracy, and data generation capabilities of Solid are opening doors to projects that were beyond the budgets of many researchers prior to its release.
"We look forward to playing a part in the myriad exciting projects our customers are talking to us about, and helping shape the future of scientific research for years to come".
Offering the international scientific community integral genomic solutions, including the use of various molecular biology technology and techniques, is Sistemas Genomicos, a genomic research company in Spain.
The Solid system at Sistemas is expected to be utilised to expand the company's involvement in national and international research projects, including food quality testing and genetic disease research.
"We have received a number of customer requests relating to whole genome sequencing and believe that the Solid system's speed and flexibility will be more attractive to end users for this type of research in comparison to other next-generation sequencing systems," said Professor Manuel Perez-Alonso, scientific manager, Sistemas Genomicos.
"The high throughput nature of the system should enable cost-effective genomic sequencing for a variety of applications, including deep sequencing and comparative genome analysis."
