Scientists from the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center (HGSC) are expanding their fleet of advanced genomic next-generation sequencing technology from Applied Biosystems.
This will accelerate their studies of the genetic underpinnings of cancer and other complex human diseases.
Additional Solid systems will be integrated into the HGSC's existing base of genomics analysis technologies.
With a total of 20 systems, HGSC scientists will use these sequencing platforms to further conduct comprehensive analyses of the genetic changes that characterise cancer, autism and cardiovascular disease in humans.
The HGSC research developments coincide with the National Institutes of Health Gene Sequencing Programs, including increased support for determination of genetic changes in each of the three disease areas.
With the additional genomic analysis platforms and the increased throughput available from each system, the HGSC expects to at least triple its current sequence production.
The development of sophisticated genomic analysis sequencing technologies has opened the door to a new era of life-science research, enabling scientists to completely survey entire cancer genomes within individuals.
By creating a catalogue of both single base changes (SNPs) and large segments of DNA rearrangements in genomes known as structural variants, researchers hope to one day identify all sources of genetic variation that contribute to cancer.
This kind of portrait of the genetic underpinnings of disease will help scientists to lay the groundwork for the molecular events that occur in the generation of individual cancers.
