Next-Generation sequencing (NGS) has provided a wealth of data for research across many biomedical areas. The continued improvements to the technology will enable even greater depth of data which will provide answers to many critical scientific questions. This proposal is requesting the acquisition of an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 sequencing system that will substantially enhance the DNA-sequencing capabilities in the Center for Biotechnology and Genomics (CBG) at Texas Tech University and beyond. The Center currently has an Illumina MiSeq and HiSeq 2500. The growing user base of the current instrumentation is studying a broad range of topics from prostate, brain and colon cancer, alcoholism, immunotherapy, Alzheimer disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, colitis, olfaction, vaccine development and ways to decrease antibiotic use. These researchers are from various campuses of the Texas Tech University system across the West Texas region. The CBG has served this broad regional base for almost thirty years and has formed strong and highly collaborative partnerships with researchers across many fields from the general academic campus and the health sciences campuses (Lubbock, Abilene, Amarillo, El Paso, and Permian Basin). The CBG is designed to provide researchers with the expertise, technology, and computational infrastructure from initial consultations regarding experimental design through sample preparation, sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The CBG also provides hands-on technical training. The NovaSeq 6000 will add greater speed, depth of coverage, and greater efficiency of data production, thereby decreasing costs and ?time to data reception,? thus significantly impact the research efforts across the Texas Tech system and beyond. This instrument will enhance the ability of more researchers and young investigators to access tools that will enable them to address critical research questions better.CBG collaboration with the expertise and resources available in the TTU High-Performance Computing Center enables efficient storage, analysis, and dissemination of the big data sets produced by this instrument system. The technical support team at CBG has the necessary experience, and the Center has the administrative support for rapid implementation of this new instrument. This instrument will enhance the ability of the biomedical and basic sciences research community to obtain genomic, transcriptomic, microbiome and epigenetic data more rapidly at reduced cost, and expand the accessibility of these research tools to an even broader base. The NovaSeq 6000 will be utilized not only to greatly enhance research but also in education and outreach, maximizing the utility of this system to many stakeholders and promoting the overall goals of the University System and CH Foundation who support this proposal and committed $300,000 toward the acquisition of the NovaSeq 6000 DNS Sequencing System.
The NovaSeq 6000 DNA Sequencing System will enable a broad user base across the West Texas region to examine the genetics of a wide range of topics from prostate, brain and colon cancer, alcoholism, immunotherapy, Alzheimer disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity, colitis, olfaction, vaccine development and ways to decrease antibiotic use. This instrument will also be used in educational and outreach missions, maximizing the utility of this system to many stakeholders, being significant in emerging field of personalized medicine, clinical informatics, and genomic counseling.
