In conversation – Thoughts on the current status of the sequencing industry. An interview with Jacqueline Boultwood, University of Oxford

In the run up to our 2015 Next Generation Sequencing Congress, Single Cell Congress & Genome Editing Congress we spoke with Jacqueline Boultwood, University of Oxford, a confirmed speaker at the congress, about her thoughts on the current status of the sequencing industry.

NGS technologies are reaching a point of saturation with the majority of researchers using the Illumina platforms. Can you give us a short overview of where the NGS industry stands at the moment?

“Illumina technology is the current leader in the field, in particular when it come to whole genome sequencing. The HiSeq X Ten System has pushed the cost for a 30x human genome to less than $1000, but of course this is the cost for library preparation and sequencing consumables and does not include the cost of upfront sample preparation, staff and bioinformatics. High throughput has been one of the key drivers of Illumina in the research field, however in the clinical arena there are different factors affecting the decision on which platform to use, including the ability to use low input DNA, read length, speed, cost and flexibility. Other platforms, such as the Ion Torrent, are also being used in some clinicallaboratories. The prediction is that we will observe a shift towards third generation sequencing technology in the next three years. The precision and the speed of single molecule sequencing are improving, and human whole genome sequencing might be possible soon using this technology.”

To read this interview in full, please click here.

The 7th Annual Next Generation Sequencing Congress is Europe’s only congress dedicated to discussing sequencing and single cell analysis challenges. This year focussing on the application of NGS technologies in different therapeutic areas, including oncology, microbiology and infectious diseases, as well as translating NGS into the clinic. With the discovery of CRISPR, genome editing is poised to revolutionise the genomics industry; this year the congress will also discuss how CRISPR and other technologies are currently impacting therapeutic research. This is the meeting place for over 400 international experts and co-located with the 3rd Annual Single Cell Analysis Congress and the Genome Editing Congress.

To download the conference programme for this congress, please click here.

Registration is Open.

Please contact Danielle Dalby on d.dalby@oxfordglobal.co.uk or call on +44(0)1865 248455 today to reserve your place. If you’re looking to present a poster, we have limited spaces available on a strictly first come first served basis. For further information regarding our poster presentations, or to find out more about this or any of our upcoming events, please contact Danielle Dalby on d.dalby@oxfordglobal.co.uk or +44(0)1865 248455