New instrumentation at the Donnelly Sequencing Centre allows for a two-week project turnaround
The Donnelly Sequencing Centre (DSC) team takes pride in two things: A uniquely quick turnaround time, and their ability to take on the difficult projects that other sequencing centres refuse.
“We’ve built a niche of tough projects,” says DSC supervisor Sherin Mohammed Shibin, laughing. “That and the rush orders.”
With the addition of two new sequencing machines this year, a MiSeq i100 and NextSeq 2000, Sherin expects to serve the DSC’s clients even better. With these upgrades, the team can produce accurate data within a two-week turnaround time—compared to a typical timespan of two to six months.
"Our advantage is always that we're faster,” says Sherin. “If a client prepares the sample, we can actually sequence on these new instruments within one week. Otherwise, we can do it in two, if we were to do the library preparations ourselves.”
The speed of the DSC is possible due to the prioritization of urgent orders and the distribution of work between Sherin and sequencing specialist Deepika Gururaj. The two-person team is headed by DSC Director Benjamin Blencowe, professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and PI at the Blencowe Lab at Donnelly. Sherin attributes the quality of the DSC’s work entirely to how Gururaj and her complement each other’s skill sets.
“Deepika is good with some library preps. I'm good with others,” Sherin says. “We both have our own niches. We have streamlined and well optimized protocols: when a project comes in, we take on our specialties and get to work."
This allows the team to take on the work that no other sequencing centres are interested in, including challenging samples. A recent project they untangled involved the team sequencing degraded RNA samples that were heavily contaminated with DNA.
Sherin explains, “We were hunted down by that client because we’re known for handling tough projects. So, we did a pilot.”
The DSC first attempted to remove the DNA with a specialized kit, to a satisfactory result by the client’s standards. It was not, however, satisfactory to Sherin, who believed they could do better. The team continued to test for a more effective removal, until the result met the DSC’s standards.
"It was challenging because you want these clients to have good data,” Sherin says. “Quality is what Donnelly's Sequencing Centre stands for. It was fun to solve this particular problem.”
Figuring out the hard projects are a large part of Sherin’s enjoyment in the work, and one of the many reasons why she’s been at the DSC for over five years. No matter the difficulty of the project, she says the DSC is ready to take it on.
“We work, and we make it work,” says Sherin.
The DSC helps clients take their project from concept to data, with discounted rates for research coming out of the University of Toronto. They offer free consultations to help plan projects and ensure that their services best fit their clients' research needs. Learn more HERE.
