Fluidigm has announced a sample quantification system that allows researchers to sequence libraries of rare samples, lower costs, improve data quality and speed up time to results of DNA sequencing.
Fluidigm said that its Slingshot improves the productivity of next-generation sequencing tools from Roche, Illumina and Applied Biosystems.
It does so by exploiting the microfluidic properties of integrated fluidic circuits (IFCs) to detect only amplifiable molecules within the sample mixture.
IFCs use extremely small amounts of sample, so this technology opens up the ability to sequence rare libraries where suboptimal amounts of the tissue are available.
The ability of IFCs to count individual molecules - using digital PCR - also eliminates the need for costly library titration as scientists ready samples for sequencing.
Currently, these preparation steps must be performed prior to almost every new sequencing run.
Users of Fluidigm's Slingshot technology are reporting key advantages at two junctions: sub-optimal sample quantitation and replacement of the library titration step.
These implementations have allowed users to process previously failed samples and eliminate the costly titration step, saving processing time (up to two days).
As an example in making next-generation sequencers more productive, researchers using a 454 sequencing system routinely perform a titration run to calibrate the equipment for its actual sequencing run.
This titration run requires significant amounts of biological sample, can cost as much as USD10,000 (GBP6,950) and can take up to a week to complete.
Fluidigm's Slingshot kit reduces the amount of biological sample needed to as little as one picogram (for both preparation and sequencing), eliminates the time-consuming costly titration step, and completes its work in less than four hours.
This allows researchers to optimise their use of the high-throughput 454 DNA sequencing system.
Fluidigm's Slingshot kit helps scientists find the optimal DNA ratio for sample preparation.
It includes an IFC chip, library-specific assays for next-generation DNA sequencing platforms, the sample loading agent and the assay loading agent.
