Project consulting and workflow design

Planning and executing a genomics project can be overwhelming. We will work with you to provide an end-to-end solution! Our team has years of experience working with academic, clinical, biotech, and forensic investigators. Let’s have a conversation! 

Most sequencing failures are the result of insufficient starting material and/or poor quality DNA/RNA. Both causes can be reduced by careful planning and execution of sample collection and processing. Sample collection techniques and sample preservation media depend heavily on the downstream applications and project timelines. We will discuss the best collection options, procedures, and media for your particular sample type and data requirements.

Sample storage and transport can greatly affect the amount of quality DNA/RNA that can be extracted from a given sample. We will discuss how your particular samples can be stored during the short term or archived for the long term, and the safest methods of transport from material origin to processing point and beyond, even across the globe.

In the world of genomic sequencing, Quality In = Quality Out. However, in a lot of situations, abundant, perfect quality DNA or RNA is not always feasible to obtain. This is particularly true for forensic projects which often involve old, degraded, and trace amount of materials. We have the know-how of extraction chemistry, as well as specialized instrumentations and robots, to make the best use of your precious materials. Our extraction platform can be customized to your project needs, from trace amount challenging sample type, to bulk quantity input, to high throughput applications. 

Illumina sequencing is the Gold Standard for NGS. It is versatile, rapid, and increasingly, affordable. The vast majority of our clients' projects are run on the Illumina platform. However, there are occasions where single molecule sequencing or long reads are needed to achieve certain specific objectives. We will help you decide if alternative platforms, such as PacBio or Oxford Nanopore, might be beneficial. 

Sequencing dataset size can range from megabytes to gigabytes or even terabytes. We can provide assistance in secure data storage and transfer and in bioinformatic analysis.

Funding and budgeting for a long-term and/or complex study is always a major deciding factor in the ultimate goals of the project. We are here to help investigators stay within budget by helping to define what testing requirements are necessary to meet project goals and then streamlining workflows to make the most efficient use of samples, time, and materials. We have experience in writing and/or editing Materials and Methods sections for grant applications and manuscript preparation. We are happy to provide letters of project support for grant applications that detail our services to be provided.