Long-read high throughput sequencer and robot system

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 579491575

The Genomics and Transcriptomics Laboratory at Heinrich Heine University's Biological-Medical Research Center has been supporting numerous internal and external users for many years with expertise and services in the field of next-generation sequencing. Since 2016, the laboratory has been offering its users long-read sequencing services in addition to the previous short-read sequencing technology. On top of the actual sequencers, the laboratory also has a pipetting robot purchased in 2017 for preparing samples for sequencing. Two sequencing instruments purchased in 2017 and 2019 with DFG funding, which have since become obsolete and uneconomical, shall be replaced by a new, higher throughput instrument that is significantly cheaper to operate. In order to handle the increasing number of samples for long-read sequencing and to ensure consistent quality in sample preparation, the outdated pipetting robot, which will no longer be supported by the manufacturer from the end of 2025, will also be replaced by a new system. This will enable the core unit to continue offering the increasingly needed long-read sequencing services. In addition to numerous other sequencing projects on a wide range of topics, which the core facility is regularly asked to carry out, the new sequencer and robot will in particular be used for sequencing projects from groups of the CEPLAS excellence cluster or a wide variety of research projects like the identification of genetic risk factors in heart transplant patients or the use of high-throughput sequencing to understand the evolution of species and their adaption to different environmental conditions.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Long-Read Hochdurchsatz-Sequenzierungsgerät und Robotersystem
• Instrumentation Group: 3150 DNA-Sequenzer
• Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
• Leader: Dr. Jochen Hecht