UNMC SIG Supporting Next-generation DNA Sequencing Technology

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary/Abstract The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is requesting funds to purchase an Illumina Genome Analyzer IIX (GAIIX) to provide state-of-the-art genomic services to the UNMC biomedical research community. The GAIIX instrument will be housed and operated as a core facility by well-trained and highly capable scientists and technical personnel. This placement and management strategy will ensure the efficient and maximal use of the instrument, as well as ensure that the researchers needing the instrument and associated technological applications have the support they need in a timely fashion. The GAIIX is a next- generation DNA sequencing instrument capable of generating gigabase (Gb) quantities of DNA nucleotide information from a variety of different experimental contexts. The instrument will facilitate genomic research involving DNA sequencing to investigate genetic variation, genome-wide gene regulatory processes to include protein / DNA interactions as well as epigenetic mechanisms, and a variety of whole transcriptome applications to include mRNA and miRNA sequencing and digital gene expression-tag profiling. This technology is currently unavailable on the UNMC campus. The NIH supported projects outlined in this proposal include molecular studies of biomedical relevance to breast cancer, HIV disease, lymphoma, methamphetamine abuse, infectious disease, neurological disorders and neurodegeneration, neurosensory systems of vision and hearing, disorders of language and learning, and respiratory disorders. The nine NIH supported major users come from a variety of academic departments, institutes, and centers including the Eppley Cancer Institute, an NCI designated cancer center since 1982, the Center for Lymphoma and Leukemia Research, and the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Diseases. There is considerable interest in next-generation sequencing applications in the UNMC biomedical research community as evidenced by the nine major user and eleven minor user projects outlined in this proposal, as well as many other researchers here at UNMC that have also expressed an interest in using the technology. The local availability of the Ilumina GAIIX instrument and next-generation sequencing services will have a major impact on a number of different research programs at UNMC and the local biomedical research community as a whole, thus enhancing research and facilitating the ability of researchers to compete effectively for existing and new grant applications at NIH and other funding agencies.