[caption id="attachment_29573" align="alignright" width="200"] Justin Zook[/caption] A map of every individual’s genome will soon be possible, but how will we know if it is correct? Benchmarks are needed in order to check the performance of sequencing, and any genomes used for such a purpose should be comprehensive and well characterized. Enter the Genome in a Bottle Project (GIAB), a consortium of geneticists and bioinformaticians committed to the creation and sharing of high-quality reference genomes. Unlike other initiatives, such as the 1000 Genomes Project, that are seeking to sequence many representatives of different populations, GIAB is interested in sequencing just a…
SMRT Sequencing is a go-to technology for generating reference-grade human genome assemblies, according to speakers in a recent webinar. In their presentations, Tina Graves-Lindsay from Washington University and Adam Ameur from Uppsala University spoke about diploid assemblies, discovering novel sequence, improving diversity of the current human reference genome, and much more. Finally, our own Paul Peluso gave a presentation that included the technology roadmap showing the next several upgrades for the Sequel System. Graves-Lindsay began with efforts from the Genome Reference Consortium to “represent the full range of genetic diversity in humans,” a task requiring the generation of many population-specific references.…
We recently co-sponsored a webinar with Springer Nature, and if you missed it live, you can now register to watch the recording. Moderated by Nature Publishing Group’s Jayshan Carpen, the webinar is entitled “Reveal hidden genetic variation by combining long-read target capture with SMRT Sequencing” and features several terrific speakers. We’d like to thank Tetsuo Ashizawa from Houston Methodist Research Institute, Melissa Laird Smith from the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai, and our own Meredith Ashby for taking the time to present fascinating data and answer audience questions. The webinar kicks off with a talk…
We’ve got several educational webinars coming up, and we hope you can join us! Our first event will be hosted by Front Line Genomics on April 28 (4:00 p.m. BST / 11:00 a.m. EST / 8:00 a.m. PST). “Applying PacBio Long-Read Sequencing for Human Biomedical Research” will include Adam Ameur of the National Genomics Infrastructure in Sweden; Giancarlo Russo from the Functional Genomics Center Zurich; and our CSO Jonas Korlach. Each participant will offer a brief presentation, with audience Q&A at the end. We’ve also teamed up with DNAnexus to offer two webinars on best practices for SMRT Sequencing data…
Roche recently posted this recording of a webinar walking through long fragment capture with SMRT® Sequencing. “Long Genomic DNA Fragment Capture and SMRT Sequencing Enables Accurate Phasing of Cancer and HLA Loci” is a great backgrounder for scientists interested in using the Roche NimbleGen SeqCap EZ System for target enrichment prior to sequencing on the PacBio® system.The webinar features Denise Raterman from Roche NimbleGen and our own bioinformatics expert Lawrence Hon. Raterman provides a detailed review of the SeqCap EZ workflow, pointing out the specific steps that differ for SMRT Sequencing. The method can be used to capture up to…
Following the recent paper about HLA typing from scientists at Anthony Nolan Research Institute, we thought readers might enjoy this webinar from Neema Mayor, a scientist at the institute and lead author on the paper. The video offers a great foundation on HLA typing for beginners as well as more detailed information about typing technologies for advanced users. (Learn more about the institute's plans for HLA typing in this GenomeWeb article.) Named for Anthony Nolan, a young boy whose need for a bone marrow transplant spurred his mother to start the world’s first registry of potential donors, the institute focuses…
If you missed our recent webinar on isoform sequencing with the PacBio® platform, we’ve made the full recording available for on-demand access. “Iso-Seq™ Method: Sample Prep and Experimental Design for Full-Length cDNA Sequencing” offers an overview of the application, along with specific sample prep tips, factors to consider when designing an experiment, and suggestions about what kinds of projects can take advantage of this method. Hosted by our own Tyson Clark, the webinar begins with a look at why it’s important to capture full-length transcripts. There are known human genes that have very different functions depending on which splice variant…
Our AGBT workshop attracted more than 500 attendees thanks to the high-profile speakers who shared their perspectives on human genomic research. Because of the exclusivity of AGBT, we decided to live-stream our workshop to reach the broader scientific community. Thanks to the the hundreds of people who tuned in to our live webcast from afar! Here are some highlights from the presentations and the recording of the workshop is at the bottom of this post. Our CEO, Mike Hunkapiller, started the session with a reflection on the 15-year anniversary of the announcements of the first human genomes, noting these efforts…
Like many others, we’re looking forward to an exciting week of science and sun at the 16th annual Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference! We’re hosting a lunch workshop on Friday, February 27, in the Palms Ballroom from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm EST. We hope you can join us onsite (please reserve your seat) and even if you’re not at the conference, you can watch the live stream. Here’s the agenda: Towards Comprehensive Genomics – Past, Present and Future The Human Genome: From One to One Million J. Craig Venter, Human Longevity Inc. Is Perfect Assembly Possible?…
If full-length transcript information would be useful for your research, please join us for two upcoming webinars. Our scientists will offer tips for how to optimize the Iso-Seq™ method with the PacBio® System to meet your research goals. Our first webinar, Iso-Seq™ Method: Sample Prep and Experimental Design for Full-Length cDNA Sequencing,” will be presented by Tyson Clark, PacBio’s senior manager for next-generation applications and technologies. The talk will cover recent Iso-Seq template preparation protocol updates for creating full-length cDNAs, why full-length transcript sequence matters, and experimental design considerations. Sign up now at your preferred time: the webinar will take…
Our webinar on eukaryotic genome assembly attracted a great crowd, and now we’re making the full recording available to the community. The session featured great hands-on information and best practices for working with Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing data. “Optimizing Eukaryotic Genome Assembly with Long-Read Sequencing” featured three excellent speakers — Michael Schatz and James Gurtowski from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Sergey Koren from the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center — and was hosted by our own CSO Jonas Korlach. Schatz kicked off the session with an overview of assemblers for PacBio® data (as well as recommendations for…
During our recent sample prep webinar, PacBio® scientists described new automated options for the 10 kb SMRTbell™ template preparation workflow. In case you didn’t have the chance to attend, here’s a quick recap. Watch the webinar: Automating PacBio 10 kb template preparation The webinar was hosted by Marty Badgett, our consumables product manager, with field application scientist Mike Weiand and technical support scientist Kristi Spittle Kim. The goal of the session was to introduce two new automation solutions that were developed based on interest from customers for more streamlined sample preparation. Both of the systems, available from PerkinElmer and Agilent Technologies,…
If you love long reads, you won’t want to miss this week’s webinar on sample prep for Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) Sequencing. We will focus on automation solutions for 10 Kb template preparation, including new high-throughput sample prep kits, compatible automated liquid handling platforms, and sample data. Register now for the webinar, with your choice of times: Tuesday, April 1 5:00 p.m. PDTWednesday, April 2 8:00 a.m. PDT Our presenters will be PacBio scientists Kristi Spittle Kim and Michael Weiand. Kristi, an applications scientist in our technical support group, has been working in the genomics field since 2006. At PacBio,…