Agilent Technologies has introduced the Agilent Sureselect target enrichment system, a tool for greatly streamlining DNA sequencing research.
It enables scientists to sequence only genomic areas of interest, using sequencing instrumentation.
It will initially be available for the Illumina genome analyser system.
In addition, Agilent is in the process of optimising the platform for the Life Technologies Solid system.
Target enrichment, also referred to as targeted resequencing, genome partitioning, or DNA capture, is useful when a researcher is only interested in sequencing a particular segment of the genome, for example, just the translated part.
In this case, the Agilent Sureselect platform can be used to capture a subset of exons or other genome targets and wash away the rest of the genome prior to sequencing.
Sureselect replaces other labour-intensive methods of targeted resequencing, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, a major bottleneck in most sequencing workflows.
Early access user Daniel Turner, head of sequencing technology development, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: 'There are several important features of this technology that set it apart from its competitors: it is simple to perform and easily scalable to a 96-well format, it requires far less genomic DNA than on-array or PCR-based approaches, and it provides unparalleled specificity.
In fact, the amount of input DNA needed for a successful target enrichment experiment is approximately one tenth of that required by other platforms, enabling experiments that would not be possible otherwise by preserving precious sample.' The initial Agilent genome partitioning product is a ready-to-use kit containing a customer-specified mixture of up to 55,000 biotinylated RNA probes delivered in a single tube.
The capture probes are 120 base pairs long - this makes them very effective at capturing DNA containing unknown mutations, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions or deletions.
Sureselect kits are packaged for a range of study sizes from tens to thousands of samples, and are well-suited to automation in very high throughput workflows, unlike other commercially available products for this application.
Users can design their own Sureselect mixtures using the Agilent eArray online design tool, which contains many key genomes and also lets users upload their own sequences.
EArray allows biologists to easily design the tools they need without up-front design fees.
Later in the year, Agilent also plans to introduce an array-based genome partitioning method for smaller-scale experiments, providing researchers with a complete range of products for target enrichment.
Agilent Sureselect employs a method licensed from The Broad Institute at Harvard and MIT.
Kits will be available for order on 26 February.
