(Press-News.org) March 8, 2012, Shenzhen, China – BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported that it can use next-generation sequencing to analyze DNA as low as 200 ng from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples. This advancement enables researchers to easily identify the genetic details and pathology mechanism of FFPE disease samples, especially for some rare tumors, with higher accuracy and reliability than existing techniques.
FFPE samples are common biological materials for disease diagnoses and scientific research. Because FFPE tissue samples may be stored indefinitely at room temperature, and nucleic acids (both DNA and RNA) may be recovered after decades from the original fixation, they have become an important resource for historical studies in medicine. There are millions of FFPE samples stored worldwide containing significant genetic information for disease and medical research.
With the rapid development of genomics, the ability to sequence FFPE samples opens up large tissue collections from clinical trials for genetic analysis that could help researchers identify novel variations that are linked to disease development. However, during the sample preparation and storage process, formaldehyde can induce modification of nucleotide molecules, such as DNA damage, DNA-protein cross-links (DPC), among others. This hampers further application and development of sequencing in exploring the genetic characteristics of diseases.
Recently, BGI researchers have made a breakthrough on FFPE DNA sequencing by achieving optimization of FFPE DNA library construction with total DNA degraded to as low as 200 ng. "This is a critical step toward better decoding the potential genetic information of FFPE samples," said Xun Zhao, staff scientist from BGI Department of DNA Sequencing. "In order to fully understand the heterogeneity and special properties of FFPE samples, we hope to conduct more FFPE DNA sequencing projects with collaborators worldwide to further enhance and standardize our technique."
"We expect that next-generation sequencing technologies with FFPE samples could substantially facilitate our understanding of undefined pathological mechanisms and broaden our insights in biomedical research," added Zhao. "This also strengthens the confidence of researchers in pharmaceutical and disease areas, especially when samples are limited."
INFORMATION:
About BGI
BGI was founded in Beijing, China, in 1999 with the mission to become a premier scientific partner for the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible, which it achieves through its investment in infrastructure, leveraging the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and BGI Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications.
BGI has a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research: research that has generated over 170 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. BGI's many accomplishments include: sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and German deadly E. coli, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, more recently, have sequenced the human Gut Metagenome, and a significant proportion of the genomes for the1000 Genomes Project.
For more information about BGI, please visit www.genomics.cn
Contact Information:
Bicheng Yang,
Public Communication Officer
BGI
+86-755-82639701
yangbicheng@genomics.cn
www.genomics.cn
END
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