Next-generation sequencer for evolutionary genomics

新的DNA测序方法使研究人员和临床医生能够快速准确地对单个生物体的整个基因组进行排序，分析微生物基因组的整个群落，对比肿瘤和健康组织的基因组，并进行广泛的基于基因组的分析，这些分析以前被认为太慢、太昂贵，甚至很难考虑尝试，从而彻底改变了生物科学。在过去的10年里，这些新的基因组测序仪器迅速从稀有而昂贵的稀奇性设备发展成了常见的、负担得起的设备。例如，第一批人类基因组序列是由工业规模的研究合作产生的，耗资数十亿美元，而现在可以在一到两周内在台式仪器上花费数千美元对人类基因组进行测序。这样的能力很快就会成为21世纪生物学家工具包的标准部分。这些新仪器在发达国家所有生物研究领域的广泛使用，意味着加拿大的研究人员必须能够随时获得这种方法及其产生的大量基因组信息：如果没有这种能力，加拿大研究人员在开发基于基因组的方法解决从保护遗传学到个性化医学等不同领域的问题的竞赛中将很快落后于竞争对手。失去这种机会的最重要后果将是研究生和博士后在生物学基因组分析前沿方法方面的培训质量相对下降。在这项应用中，SFU的一组不同的研究人员在基础和应用研究中使用遗传和基因组方法，建议购买一种新的基因组分析仪。这款价格实惠的台式仪器将提供灵活、经济高效和及时的基因组测序能力，取代我们研究小组目前的一些传统测序，补充我们校外大规模高通量基因组测序服务的使用，并为新的研究和高质量的基因组方法和数据分析培训打开可能性。

New DNA sequencing methods have revolutionized the biological sciences by allowing researchers and clinicians to quickly and accurately sequence the entire genome of a single organism, analyze whole communities of microbial genomes, contrast the genomes of tumours and healthy tissues, and carry out a broad array of genome-based analyses that were previously considered to be far too slow, expensive, or difficult to even consider attempting. In the last 10 years, these new genome sequencing instruments have quickly developed from exotic and expensive curiosities into commonplace and affordable pieces of equipment. For example, the first human genome sequences were produced by industrial-scale research collaborations and cost billions of dollars, whereas human genomes can now be sequenced on desktop instruments in a week or two for thousands of dollars. Such capabilities will soon be a standard part of the tool kit of 21st century biologists. The widespread use of these new instruments in all areas of biological research across the developed world means that Canadian researchers must have ready access to such methods and the extraordinary amount of genomic information that they produce: without such capabilities, Canadian researchers will quickly fall behind their competitors in the race to develop genome-based approaches to problems in diverse areas from conservation genetics to personalized medicine. The most important consequence of this lost access will be a relative decline in the quality of training for graduate students and postdocs in leading-edge methods for genomic analysis in biology. In this application, a diverse group of SFU researchers using genetic and genomic methods in basic and applied research propose the purchase of a new genome analyzer. This affordable, desktop instrument will provide flexible, cost-effective, and timely access to genome sequencing capabilities that will replace some current traditional sequencing in our research groups, complement our uses of large-scale high-throughput genome sequencing services off-campus, and open up possibilities for new research and for high-quality training in genomic methods and data analysis.