New England Biolabs® to Present Latest NGS Sample Preparation Technology Innovations at AGBT 2018

IPSWICH, Mass., Feb. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Can an enzyme-based approach reliably and randomly generate DNA fragments for all GC contents and input amounts? How can each step in the next generation sequencing (NGS) library prep workflow be improved? How can you improve single cell RNA sample prep? For methylome analysis, are there simpler alternatives to bisulfite treatment?

These are just some of the questions that will be answered by New England Biolabs (NEB) at this year's Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) General Meeting from February 12-15 in Orlando, Florida. NEB scientists and collaborators, including Christopher Mason, Ph.D. of Weill Cornell Medicine, will present a broad range of sample preparation technologies, as well as basic research findings, that address issues in various NGS areas.

"As NGS applications continue to expand, and the demands of sample inputs and quality increase, we continue to develop a broad range of innovative solutions," said Fiona Stewart, Portfolio Manager for Next Generation Sequencing at NEB. "We're excited to present our basic and applied work that addresses these challenges, and show what's coming up in the NEBNext product pipeline later this year, at AGBT."

During the conference, NEB will be based in the Sarasota Suite. Below is a preview of what NEB will feature at AGBT:

"Comprehensive metagenomic and transcriptomic characterization of astronauts"
In the Bronze Sponsor session, Christopher E. Mason, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine will speak about the use of multiple NEBNext technologies in this groundbreaking research project. This will include NEB's new "FS" enzymatic DNA fragmentation method, that is combined with end repair and dA-tailing in a single tube, and reliably generates desired fragment sizes with the same protocol, regardless of input amount and GC content. This presentation will take place on Thursday, February 15th at 10 am.

Pre-designed gene content with NEBNext Direct^® technology: Beyond Amplification
NEB will preview a new way to access its NEBNext Direct target enrichment technology, by selecting from >850 genes with pre-designed baits, for fast turnaround and superior, cost-effective performance.

96 unique dual indices
Details will be provided of NEB's new, unique dual index primer pairs, designed to address the "barcode-hopping" issue. These 96 pre-mixed unique pairs of index primers enable complete bioinformatic filtering of index-hopped sequencing reads.

Single cells to µg: high-efficiency RNA library preparation kits for all input amounts
NEB will preview their soon to be released single cell/low input RNA technology, which enables higher yields and gene expression sensitivity. Also showcased will be the NEBNext Ultra^™ II RNA kits, which enable the production of high quality libraries from low ng to µg quantities of RNA.

Methylation analysis
Poster presentations on multiple technologies exploring methylation and chromatin will be presented. These include "bisulfite-free" methods for single-base resolution methylome analysis and long-range phasing of DNA methylation, as well as NicE-Seq, a new method for chromatin profiling.

An evening with NEBNext scientists
NEB will host a "NEBNext Soiree" cocktail event to provide conference attendees an opportunity to engage with NEBNext scientists, as well as a chance to win an Apple Watch^®, on Tuesday, February 13th at 9:30 pm in the Sarasota Suite. 

There will also be several posters presented during the meeting, describing some of NEB's latest research projects, collaborations and technological advances. These include:

For a summary of NEB's activities at the 2018 AGBT conference, visit here. 

For more information on the NEBNext line of reagents and sample preparation, visit www.NEBNext.com

SOURCE New England Biolabs