August 21st, 2009
A grant has been awarded to North Carolina State University (PI, Owen McMillan) to purchase a next generation "deep-read" sequencer. The machine generates over 20 billion bases of nucleotide sequence per run in the form of >400 million 50–72 base sequence fragments. It is an essential tool in ongoing research requiring i) full genome and targeted resequencing, ii) polymorphism detection, iii) small RNA discovery, and iv) transcriptional profiling. The new equipment will be operated by NCSU’s Genomic Sciences Laboratory and will serve a diverse user community interested in understanding the connections between an organism’s genotype and its phenotype and for identifying the variation that underlies individual differences in survival and reproduction. The equipment will transform ongoing research into i) how microbial communities are structured, ii) the genetic basis of complex traits, and iii) the origins and maintenance of biodiversity.
The acquisition of the new equipment will be coupled with the establishment of core bioinformatics support to accelerate the transition to the new technology throughout the larger research community. Moreover, the equipment (and data generated from it) will be broadly incorporated into undergraduate and graduate curriculum and will strengthen established i) graduate and undergraduate training programs in Genome Science, Bioinformatics, and Biotechnology, ii) minority recruitment initiatives, including NCSU’s NSF-funded Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program, and iii) community outreach programs such as NCSU Summer College in Biotechnology and Life Sciences. This new equipment and the associated training and educational initiatives help ensure that NSCU remains at the forefront of genome science.
