Editing BioMicroCenter:News2011 (section)

=== May 24, 2011 ===


Dear users,

We have a number of updates to let you all know about that have happened in the last few months.

First, we have continued to expand our [[BioMicroCenter:Illumina Library Preparation|DNA sample preparation services]]  . Over the past few months, we have been experimenting with the Nextera sample prep kit to complement our SPRIworks service. Where the SPRIworks system uses sonicated DNA, the Nextera kit is built to handle intact genomic DNA, using a transposase to fragment the DNA and is particularly suitable for applications that use entire genomic DNA, including copy number variation and de novo and resequencing projects. In addition, we have taken advantage of recent work from the Broad to improve our library representation by modifying our amplification protocol. The Nextera service is now available through BioMicro for the same price as the SPRIworks system and includes molecular [[BioMicroCenter:Multiplex|barcoding]] of the library. For more information about the Nextera system, please email  [[BioMicroCenter:People|Ryan Sinapius]].

In the [[BioMicroCenter:Microarrays|microarray]] area, we have made significant improvements to our Agilent microarray service. First, we have upgraded our scanner to 2um resolution, which will allow scanning of Agilent’s newest 1 million feature arrays. This has been coupled with an upgrade of the scanning and analysis software that can now handle additional quality controls. In addition, we have been working with Agilent to bring down the prices of their microarrays and we will be able to offer them at a significant discount beginning in July that will bring the [[BioMicroCenter:Pricing|price]] of microarray analysis down significantly. For more information about changes in the Agilent platform, please talk with [[BioMicroCenter:People|Manlin Luo]].

Finally, in response to user demand we have purchased a number of licenses for TIBCO Spotfire Analytics. Spotfire is a widely used data analysis and visualization tool. It can handle a number of clustering functions and statistical tests and has very robust graphical capabilities. If you are interested in trying out Spotfire, please contact [[BioMicroCenter:People|Stephen Goldman]].

As a reminder, this email only goes out to people who are have used the BioMicro Center within the past couple years. Please feel free to forward this message on to anyone else who might be interested.

Thank you all for your support,

-Stuart Levine