Infinium® HumanCore Arrays for Economical Large-Scale Genetic Studies

Illumina, Inc. has launched the Infinium HumanCore BeadChip family of products. The Infinium HumanCore and Infinium HumanCoreExome BeadChips are customizable and support cost-effective, large-scale genotyping and screening studies such as those performed by biobanks, genome centers, and core labs. Based on Illumina's proven Infinium assay, the BeadChips enable genotyping of markers found across diverse populations, making them ideal for researchers engaged in population genetics studies around the world.

"These powerful, cost-effective arrays were specifically designed to make genotyping accessible to a wider range of researchers and laboratories," said Christian Henry, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Genomic Solutions at Illumina. "Infinium HumanCore BeadChips combine affordability and high-throughput sample processing using the industry's best multi-sample array. The high-quality, genome-wide information they deliver can be used for a variety of downstream applications."

Both customizable arrays include content important for disease research, including association studies and copy number variant discovery and analysis. The Infinium HumanCore BeadChip features highly-informative, genome-wide tag SNPs and additional high value markers such as indels and updated exome-focused content. The higher density Infinium HumanCoreExome BeadChip provides that same valuable core content, along with informative markers from the popular HumanExome BeadChip.

With array scanning performed using Illumina's HiScan® or iScan® systems, these multisample BeadChips are equally useful for efficiently and cost-effectively genotyping large populations, screening and quality control of samples prior to sequencing, or generating baseline genomic datasets of general sample cohorts.

"It's clear that large sample sizes are key to furthering progress in human genetics, and Illumina has been a partner to develop an array that will enable these studies," said Mark McCarthy, Robert Turner Professor of Diabetes at the University of Oxford and an array design team member. "The HumanCoreExome BeadChip will be particularly valuable for research utilizing large sample studies. The combination of genome-wide tag SNPs and an enhanced set of exome markers, with the potential to add substantial custom content, will drive the next wave of association discovery for SNPs and CNVs."