BGI Americas, a genomics services leader, and Gencove, a leading genomics technology company, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to offer a new low-pass sequencing service to lower barriers to large-scale genomics projects.
Cambridge, MA and New York, October 18, 2018 – BGI Americas, a genomics services leader, and Gencove, a leading genomics technology company, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to offer a new low-pass sequencing service to lower barriers to large-scale genomics projects. This service combines BGI’s DNBseq™ Next Generation Sequencing technology and Gencove’s ImputeSeq™ low-pass sequencing analysis pipeline.
Genotyping array technology, widely used for genome-wide association studies and other large-scale genomics projects, is limited to a finite number of pre-selected genetic variants. In addition, these variants are often biased towards those most common in populations of European descent.
BGI’s DNBseq technology has brought the price of generating sequencing data to a point where it is lower than that of genotyping arrays. At the same time, Gencove’s ImputeSeq™ pipeline turns low-pass data into high quality variant calls across the genome, along with ancestry and microbiome profiles for each sample.
The powerful new NGS-based solution will provide scientists with more data, better variant calls without bias, and the ability to discover new rare variants, at a cost that is lower than that of genotyping arrays. In addition, the raw genome data will remain available for future re-analysis as science progresses.
The solution will be available in the Americas as a complete turn-key service from both companies and will benefit scientists involved in genome-wide association studies, biobanks, and pharmacogenomics by allowing them to increase the power and scale of their work.
According to Charles Bao, General Manager of BGI Americas Corporation, “This new service is the next step towards making NGS data more affordable through our DNBseq technology. Teaming up with Gencove allows us to provide a better tool for large genome-wide studies, allowing more precise analysis to advance the development of more precise healthcare. “
Joe Pickrell, CEO and co-founder of Gencove, added: “The DNBseq technology combined with Gencove’s analysis is a powerful tool for driving the adoption of sequencing to new applications and increasing the scale at which scientists can conduct research. “
About BGI Americas
BGI Americas is a subsidiary of BGI Genomics, that provides a full menu of next generation sequencing and clinical testing services for academic research, drug development and diagnostics in the North and South American continents. The company operates service laboratories under global quality standards from laboratories in the US, Hong Kong and mainland China. BGI Genomics leverages its unequalled genomic research experience and massive sequencing capacity to provide customers with the highest quality data, fast turnaround at affordable prices. More information is available at www.bgi.com
About Gencove
Gencove is a spin-out of the New York Genome Center dedicated to making genomic data more accessible and interpretable through the development of molecular and computational tools. Gencove’s flagship product is its low-pass genome sequencing platform; the company operates a laboratory in New York and offers both low-pass sequencing and analytics software as a service, with customers that include top academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. More information is available atwww.gencove.com.
