Benchtop SNP genotyping system

Illumina, from San Diego, CA, has developed the BeadStation 500G, a new system for performing medium-scale genotyping using Illumina's field-proven SNP genotyping technology.

The system complements the production-scale BeadLab and is designed to match the throughput requirements and variable automation needs of individual research groups and core labs.

It will initially support a new high-density version of the company's BeadChip, the Sentrix 16HD BeadChip. This BeadChip allows simultaneous processing of 16 samples, interrogating up to 1536 SNP loci per sample. Use of the identical content as the Sentrix Array Matrix provides access to Illumina's standard SNP products such as the Linkage III mapping panel and the ability to perform custom analyses. An individual researcher can easily prepare and process eight BeadChips per day, the equivalent of nearly 200,000 genotypes, with low running costs per SNP.

The BeadStation 500G includes Illumina's BeadArray Reader, required for imaging the high-density BeadChips, genotyping analysis software that provides automated genotype scoring, the GoldenGate assay reagents to perform highly multiplexed genotyping reactions and the training and support that have made Illumina's existing BeadLab customers successful. The system is designed to be scalable, with the planned future addition of liquid handling robotics and LIMS options for sample processing and tracking.

'The BeadStation 500G will enable individual researchers and core laboratories to significantly expand their sample throughput while gaining the genotyping accuracy and cost benefits that approximate those currently available only on Illumina's production-scale BeadLab', stated Jay Flatley, Illumina's president and ceo. 'Customers in any size lab will now have access to the power of Illumina's BeadArray technology and be able to use it with current and future products in our growing portfolio', Flatley added.