Photograph by Colby BishopGenotyping materials used in Arizona Research Labs.
Posted by Janet Ziegle.
What fun we had at the workshop these last few days. After discussing reagents, Taqman assays (substances used in the DNA testing process) and Applied Biosystem's (AB) new technology, each center is looking forward to returning home to incorporate these new techniques into their labs.
As the lead in research and development for AB, I work directly with Genographic researchers to select and create some of the appropriate technologies to enable each lab to produce quality results. In particular, a group of AB researchers and I develop custom reagents called multiplex 2 and Taqman assays for the Genographic Project. While I communicate daily via email and phone with the global Genographic centers, this face to face time in the lab proved to be very valuable.
Photograph by Matt KaplanJanet Ziegle (AB) presents new AB technology at the Genographic technical workshop at Arizona Research Labs.
During the workshop, I was able to sit down with each research center to be sure they had the most up to date software downloaded for archiving and editing their genotyping data. This software allows each center to work with their data on the same system so they all create comparable results.
I also presented information on AB's new "Open Array Genotyping System" which is a system that will perform genotyping studies faster, easier and more cost effectively than other technologies. Begoña Martínez Cruz, a Genographic researcher from the Western Europe Genographic center in Barcelona, will spearhead this new testing technology for the Genographic Project in her lab in the next few weeks. We have lots to look forward to and much more testing to complete!
-Janet Ziegle, Applied Biosystems, R & D lead and technical support for the Genographic Project.
