Illumina Introduces High-Throughput Solutions with Walkaway Automation; New AutoLoader and BeadScan Software Improve Scanning Throughput by 400% and Minimize Labor Costs
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) announced today that it has introduced the Illumina AutoLoader to stage up to 40 high-density Sentrix(R) BeadChips for scanning on a BeadStation – sufficient for 15 hours of unattended, automated operation. Combined with a new software release for BeadStation that increases scan speed, system operators can now achieve scanning throughput 400% greater than previously possible.
Illumina provides the industry’s most comprehensive automation solutions for investigators performing whole genome association studies. End-to-end automation is particularly useful in the rapidly growing whole-genome genotyping market as researchers are performing association studies with thousands of samples requiring high-throughput automation in a quality-controlled environment. In addition to the new Illumina AutoLoader and upgraded software, Illumina systems provide for extensive robotics for sample preparation and labeling, revolutionary assay technologies for whole-genome genotyping, software for automated genotype calling, and a laboratory information management system (LIMS) that annotates, validates and data captures every single step performed on each sample through the entire process.
According to Matt Posard, Illumina’s Vice President of Marketing, “The availability of the Illumina Autoloader adds to our comprehensive automation solution allowing our customers the ability to increase sample throughput and accelerate their research for their large scale studies. We’re dedicated to not only providing investigators industry leading data quality, but also providing an integrated system that increases sample throughput and thereby accelerates the pace of their research.”
These new offerings are available immediately and support all current and future Sentrix BeadChip configurations. Throughput calculations are based on Illumina’s latest offering, the HumanHap550 BeadChip, which contains over 12 million features. Other lower-density BeadChips such as the 16-sample BeadChip for focused (vs. whole-genome) applications will benefit from even higher levels of throughput.
For more information about the Illumina AutoLoader or about other integrated system offerings, visit http://www.illumina.com/products/systems/systems_autoloader.ilmn or contact Illumina’s Customer Solutions organization at +1 858 202.4566; techsupport@illumina.com .
About Illumina
Illumina ( www.illumina.com ) develops and markets next-generation tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company’s proprietary BeadArray technology — used in leading genomics centers around the world — provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests necessary to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine by correlating genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and more specifically, and permitting better choices of drugs for individual patients.
