Keeping Your DNA Sequencing, Genotyping, and Microarray Laboratory Competitive in a New Era of Genomics

ABRF 2010 is next week. The conference will be in sunny Sacramento CA. About 1000 technology geeks will convene to learn about the latest advances in DNA sequencing, genotyping, and proteomics instrumentation, lab protocols, and core lab services. We will be there with our booth and participate with LIMS and NGS data analysis presentations.

The first presentation, entitled "Keeping Your DNA Sequencing, Genotyping, and Microarray Laboratory Competitive in a New Era of Genomics," will be on Sunday Mar. 20 in the second concurrent workshop (w2) at 1:00 pm.

Abstract

Laboratory directors are facing enormous challenges with respect to keeping their laboratories competitive and retaining customers in the face of shrinking budgets and rapidly changing technology. A well-designed Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) can help meet these challenges and manage costs as the scale and complexity of data collection and related services increase. LIMS can also offer competitive advantages through increased automation and improved customer experiences.

Implementing a LIMS strategy that will reduce data collection costs while improving competitiveness is a daunting proposition. LIMS are computerized data and information tracking systems that are highly variable with respect to their purpose, customization capabilities, and overall acquisition (initial purchase) and ownership (maintenance) costs. A simple LIMS can be built from a small number of spread sheets and track a few specific processes. Sophisticated LIMS rely on databases to manage multiple laboratory processes, capture and analyze different kinds of data, and provide decision support capabilities.

In this presentation, I will share 20 years of academic and industrial LIMS experiences and perspectives that have been informed through 100’s of interactions with core, research, and manufacturing laboratories engaged in DNA sequencing, genotyping, and microarrays. We’ll explore the issues that need to be addressed with respect to either building a LIMS, or acquiring a LIMS product. A new model that allows laboratories to offer competitive services, utilizing cost-effective laboratory automation strategies and new technologies like next generation sequencing, will be presented. We’ll also compare different IT infrastructures and discuss their advantages and how investments can be made to protect against unexpected costs as new instruments, like the HiSeq 2000(TM) or SOLiD 4 (TM), third generation sequencing, or other genetic analysis platforms are introduced.