OGT announces the release of new Genefficiency RNA Sequencing service

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), provider of innovative clinical genetics and diagnostic solutions to advance molecular medicine, has today announced the release of its new Genefficiency™ RNA Sequencing (RNA-Seq) Service. Taking advantage of OGT’s experience in optimized sequencing project design and advanced data analysis, this new service overcomes the need for expensive and time-intensive in-house bioinformatics analysis, and has a wide range of other benefits.

To ensure that researchers obtain informative data, OGT provides expert assistance throughout the duration of the project, from the initial stages of experimental design all the way through to the final results. In addition, the results are presented in an easy-to-use, interactive report that makes the final expression analysis as fast and straightforward as possible. By taking care of the complexity of sample and data processing, the new service makes RNA-Seq a widely accessible tool for revealing the complexities of the transcriptome.

RNA-Seq allows much broader discoveries at the transcriptome level than many other approaches. It provides the experimental freedom to identify unknown genes and isoforms without having to wait for new versions of exon or custom arrays and genome annotation updates. Analysis of the data generated allows new information to be revealed, such as changes in transcript activity and variant analysis. Additional analysis can reveal more in-depth knowledge on alternative splice junctions, allele specific expression and the identification of fusion proteins.

OGT’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Mike Evans, commented: “Whilst RNA-Seq is a powerful and flexible technology, considerable challenges are presented in terms of the data analysis process. Our optimized pipeline has been specifically designed to help researchers quickly and easily overcome these obstacles, while our purpose-built interactive reporting tool delivers meaningful, accurate publication-ready results for researchers”.

OGT’s intuitive reporting tool allows the quick and effective interrogation of data. The results can be quickly and efficiently examined against a number of parameters, such as differentially expressed genes. Furthermore, researchers can instantly investigate distinct isoforms for specified genes in order to determine those that are significantly contributing to differential expression at the individual gene-level.

As a comprehensive and fully integrated service, advice and consultation is provided as standard throughout the whole process. The initial experimental design is fully customizable in order to meet study objectives, with OGT advising on aspects such as the correct combination of starting material and sequencing depth. Rigorous quality control metrics are used to confirm that reliable, parsimonious, well-mapped reads are informing downstream analysis. Once the data report is received, a complimentary consultation with an OGT bioinformatician allows the researcher to maximize the potential power of the reporting tool. In this way, the depth of value provided by the new Genefficiency™ RNA-Seq Service ensures that researchers will quickly generate biological insight from their gene expression research project.