Fluidigm has announced an opportunity for scientists to learn more about how the US National Cancer Institute is using the Fluidigm Access Array System to explore genetic diversity.
A recorded version of the Science magazine webinar, 'Exploring genetic diversity: mapping the genetic landscape through next-generation sequencing' prominently features results from the Fluidigm Access Array System within the presentation by Michael W Smith PhD, director of the Genetics and Genomics Group within the Advanced Technology Program of SAIC Frederick.
Characterising genetic diversity in populations can be challenging due to the sheer number of samples needed to understand the underlying genetic variation.
However, using multiplexed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) along with bar-coding offers the possibility of sequencing hundreds of unique samples per-run using next-generation sequencing technology.
This process, known as amplicon resequencing, allows for each PCR amplicon to be sequenced individually, enabling both the identification of rare variants and the assignment of haplotypes.
The webinar provides an overview of amplicon resequencing-based approaches, from the perspective of investigating the complexity and diversity seen in immune system genes.
Three experts in the field discuss topics such as site-specific recombination reactions and cellular dysfunction, as well as how to use cutting-edge technology to discover pathways and specific patterns that impact such factors as the ability of the body to mount an immune response and somatic recombination in antibody production.
The authors describe how they evaluated and validated two protocols using the Access Array system to conduct, short and long-range capture.
The short-range protocol captures target lengths up to 700bp, while the long-range protocol currently captures up to 5Kb.
The Fluidigm Access Array integrated fluidic circuit is a microfluidics chip that houses thousands of nanoscale reaction chambers.
The access array is configured to run 48 samples and 48 primer pairs simultaneously for a total of 2304 reactions.
