Custom Assay Design Service for High-Sample Throughput Amplicon Resequencing

Fluidigm Corporation unveiled a new custom assay design service for high-sample throughput amplicon resequencing on Illumina platforms at last week's Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting. The Access Array™ Target-Specific Primers, when used with the Fluidigm Access Array System, allow for fast, simple, and inexpensive preparation of up to 480 amplicons per sample at a time. This capability is ideal for analysis of large sample sets across focused genomic regions to better understand human genetic variation.

"Access Array Target-Specific Primers allow researchers to quickly and specifically amplify their target of interest, incorporate sample-specific barcodes and add sequencer-specific adaptors - all at the same time.  This by-passes library preparation altogether," said Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm President and CEO.

"With our new Access Array Target-Specific Primers, we increase the number of amplicons per sample by 10X compared to our traditional solution. In conjunction with our Access Array Barcode Library for Illumina Sequencers, up to 384 unique samples can be multiplexed per sequencing run. This will help scientists capture the maximum output of their sequencers and provide the broadest coverage possible for their human genetic variation studies," Worthington concluded.

The Fluidigm Access Array System prepares amplicons for resequencing without the need for any additional library preparation and can operate with any next-generation sequencer (NGS) on the market. It prepares these amplicons in just hours, instead of days, and performs the sample preparation for less than $10 per sample. In addition, using the Access Array Barcode Libraries developed for the Illumina, Roche, and Ion Torrent sequencing platforms, researchers can test the same amplicon pools to cross-validate sequencing results across different NGS platforms.

Fluidigm (NASDAQ:FLDM) develops, manufactures and markets microfluidic systems for growth markets in the life science and agricultural biotechnology, or Ag-Bio, industries. Fluidigm's proprietary microfluidic systems consist of instruments and consumables, including chips, assays and other reagents. These systems are designed to significantly simplify experimental workflow, increase throughput and reduce costs, while providing the excellent data quality demanded by customers. Fluidigm actively markets three microfluidic systems, including eight different commercial chips, to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions and Ag-Bio companies.  For more information, please visit www.fluidigm.com.