The DNA sequencing facility in the Biochemistry Department was started in 1993 under the direction of Professor Peter Leadlay. Since that time the Facility has developed rapidly as the ability to sequence genes has become a pervasive and essential tool in all areas of biological research. The scale of the projects tackled now ranges from the validation of single mutations in individual genes up to sequencing of entire microbial genomes. We have continually updated the equipment, in order to maximise the information obtained and to minimise turn-around time, and to make the Facility as user-friendly as possible.
Sanger DNA sequencing is carried out on an Applied Biosystems 3730xl DNA Analyser, which utilises a 96 capillary array and on which 96 reactions may be run in approximately two and a half hours. Each reaction potentially gives up to 800 nucleotides of sequence from high quality templates.
The Next-Gen Sequencing service has two Illumina MiSeqs and an Illumina NextSeq500. The MiSeq sequencer was purchased to offer Illumina's high throughput, short read technology to our customers. The NextSeq500, now offers larger throughput and very competitive prices.
Facility staff have expertise in most aspects of DNA sequence analysis and can offer help and advice to both experienced researchers and to beginners. We welcome proposals for large-scale projects as well as for more routine small-scale sequencing. Our Facility offers sequencing services to anyone, we are not limited to only Departmental or University users.
