Science /
Sarah Murray, Ph. D.
"...the biggest advantage of the iScan System is the dramatically reduced scan time. Running an entire plate of Human610-Quad BeadChips (four BeadChips per plate) takes about seven minutes per sample on the iScan Reader [enabling] researchers to really increase their capacity and throughput."
Sarah Murray, Ph. D.
Director of Genomic Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute
Dr. Sarah Murray works with researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) who are conducting a genome-wide association study to identify genetic determinants of cardiovascular disease.
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Q & A with Dr. Sarah Murray
How have the Infinium HD BeadChips and iScan System performed in your lab?
The Human610-Quad BeadChip has given us tremendous data quality, almost near completion in terms of call rates. We have also been extremely pleased with the iScan System. The concordance between genotype calls between the BeadArray Reader and the iScan System is 100%. This metric demonstrates how well the new system calls genotypes. Another application the Human610-Quad BeadChips can be used for is copy number variation analysis. For this, we wanted to look at the Log R ratio deviation. Log R ratio is a metric of intensity, which is what you use to look at copy number variation. What we're seeing is both scanners are getting very good quality, good metrics for Log R ratio deviation and actually the iScan System is a little bit better, so we're extremely pleased.
What advantages do you think the iScan System offer researchers?
I'd say the biggest advantage of the iScan System is the dramatically reduced scan time. Running an entire plate of Human610-Quad BeadChips (four BeadChips per plate) takes about seven minutes per sample on the iScan Reader versus about 45 minutes per sample on the BeadArray Reader. I think for most labs, the scan time is probably the biggest bottleneck. The decreased scan time and the combination of having four samples on a single Infinium HD BeadChip enables researchers to really increase their capacity and throughput.
Researcher Bio
Sarah Murray is the Director of Genomic Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute. Researchers at the Institute are conducting a genome-wide association study to identify genetic determinants of cardiovascular disease using Illumina's Human610-Quad BeadChip. Dr. Murray shares her experience scanning these Infinium HD BeadChips using both the BeadArray Reader and an iScan System.