San Diego, California
May 6, 2009
Innovations Significantly
Decrease Computational Burden and Increase Output
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) today announced breakthrough
software advancements for its sequencing platform that enable
real time analysis and provide a significant reduction in
computing infrastructure requirements. These software
improvements, in combination with the new Genome AnalyzerIIx,
enable researchers to increase their sequencing output up to 65%
relative to the Genome AnalyzerII. Breaking from the industry
trend, where increased data output requires increased computing
power and infrastructure, Illumina is simplifying computing and
data processing by enabling base calling and quality assessment
on the instrument control workstation.
“Sequencing output generated by researchers using Illumina
technology continues to expand rapidly. These advances in Genome
AnalyzerII informatics represent the latest milestone on the
path for researchers to generate 95 gigabases of data per run by
year’s end,” said Scott Kahn, Chief Information Officer at
Illumina. “With the increase in data output, there has been a
corresponding increase in demand for computing infrastructure.
We are reversing this trend by maximizing the amount of sequence
information that can be extracted from a run while minimizing
the computational burden. The result is a simplified data
management process that will support the increasing pace of
biological research.”
Illumina has further optimized image processing and data
analysis to support the increase in sequencing output. Software
advancements include improved cluster detection, yielding a 40%
increase in reads per flow cell and lower error rates. A
breakthrough in algorithm optimization enables integrated
real-time base calling and data processing on the standard
instrument control station, reducing the need to transfer large
data files across networks, and minimizing data storage
requirements. Unlike other systems that require expensive local
clusters, the software innovations from Illumina require only
the computing power that runs the sequencer.
The latest Genome AnalyzerIIx innovations enable significant
increases in data output and quality and represent an important
milestone in the development roadmap for scaling the Genome
Analyzer presented by Illumina at the Advances in Genome Biology
and Technology meeting in February. The new developments
streamline workflow from sample prep to data analysis, increase
data output and quality and expand the applications that
researchers can perform with the Genome Analyzer. The new
software will be available May 12, 2009.
About the Genome Analyzer
Designed for facilities of all sizes, the Illumina Genome
Analyzer has been adopted across genome centers worldwide, plus
individual research labs, core and service facilities, and
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. The Genome Analyzer
offers the highest rate of daily output and the simplest and
most user-friendly workflow. The Genome Analyzer also offers the
broadest set of supported applications, including whole
transcriptome profiling and discovery, epigenetic studies, whole
genome resequencing, de novo sequencing, targeted resequencing,
ChIP-sequencing, bi-sulfite sequencing (DNA methylation), small
RNA, mRNA, tag profiling and metagenomics. For more information
about the Genome Analyzer and to read what customers are doing
with Illumina's sequencing technology, please visit
http://www.illumina.com/sequencing.
About Illumina
Illumina (www.illumina.com) is a leading developer,
manufacturer, and marketer of next-generation life-science tools
and integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and
biological function. Using our proprietary technologies, we
provide a comprehensive line of products and services that
currently serve the sequencing, genotyping, and gene expression
markets, and we expect to enter the market for molecular
diagnostics. Our customers include leading genomic research
centers, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions,
clinical research organizations, and biotechnology companies.
Our tools provide researchers around the world with the
performance, throughput, cost effectiveness, and flexibility
necessary to perform the billions of genetic tests needed to
extract valuable medical information from advances in genomics
and proteomics. We believe this information will enable
researchers to correlate genetic variation and biological
function, which will enhance drug discovery and clinical
research, allow diseases to be detected earlier, and permit
better choices of drugs for individual patients. |
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