Long fragment sequencing applications could help us advance genomics by resolving some of the most challenging regions of the human genome, discerning previously inaccessible structural variants and making sense of the deserts of non-coding material. By offering greater context, the full spectrum of genetic variation could be revealed by utilising longer fragments, giving opportunities for the discovery of novel mechanisms of disease.
DNA size selection can exclude short fragments to accelerate long fragment sequencing research. The process maximises data yields by ensuring those fragments with the most informational content are not blocked from accessing detection centres (i.e. nanopores and/or zero mode waveguides) by shorter DNA fragments.
Whole human genome sequencing use cases are characterised by a need for high data yields to achieve appropriate depth of coverage. Utilisation of Ranger® Technology offers industry-leading precision, scale and automation for the electrophoretic size selection workflow that is crucial for securing the most data from every run.
In addition, Ranger® Technology is helping transform our understanding of species diversity, evolution and agricultural engineering across plant and animal genomic research, where long fragment recovery is critical to ensure construction of high-quality assemblies for complex genomes which feature abundant repeats and polyploidy.
Gene synthesis is the foundation of the new field of Synthetic Biology, and is powering novel findings across research disciplines. These disciplines enhance our knowledge of biological processes and generate products which greatly improve our lives, fast-tracking our abilities in vaccine production, gene therapy, data storage and CRISPR editing.
Gene synthesis can construct a wide variety of types of DNA sequences without a template, simplifying the creation of DNA tools that can be produced to aid diverse research applications.
However, many high-value target sequences (inserts) that come from gene synthesis are greater than 3 kbp (30,000 bp) in length. This level of complexity greatly complicates synthesis and increases the risk of introducing impurities into the process.
Ranger® Size Selection employs machine vision in scalable electrophoresis to:
• Affirm insert purity
• Isolate inserts from off-target impurities
Ranger® Technology offers industry-leading scalability and precision for the size selection process, ensuring maximal enrichment, every time. Providing clinical and research laboratories with true walk away time, reducing workflow costs and improving yields.
The introduction of non-invasive methods like liquid biopsy that use cell-free DNA for molecular diagnostics has been of growing interest in prenatal investigations. The analysis of cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in blood can provide valuable genomic information for healthcare professionals without the need for invasive procedures like amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS).
In a lucky circumstance of biology, cffDNA is biased towards a shorter fragment length (typically <140 bp in length) than cell-free maternal DNA (typically >150 bp).
Ranger® Technology allows us to preferentially select for shorter fragments more likely to be fetal in origin for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) investigations.
Yourgene Health uses Ranger® Technology in our next generation size selection instruments to deliver dynamic target enrichment of DNA.
Core automated size selection functionality is complemented by the ability to perform fragment length analysis and fluorescence assays for next-generation sequencing (NGS) quality control applications.
