Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has a broad spectrum of laboratory applications, from life science to drug discovery. It is important to optimize every stage of your NGS workflow to ensure accurate and reliable results. Following May’s SelectScience webinars, this series explores how you can promote confidence in your NGS experiments by simplifying and accelerating NGS sample preparation and nucleic acid sample quality control.

Webinar 1: Simplified sample preparation for targeted Next-Generation Sequencing
Targeted NGS is essential for genomic analysis, including cancer, inherited and infectious disease research. This webinar will discuss a simplified sequencing workflow that enables an optimized, hands-free process for automated sample preparation. Our integrated solutions for sample QC, library preparation and target enrichment deliver reliable sample quality for reproducible results.

Key learning objectives

• Learn how NGS sample preparation workflows can be simplified with Agilent solutions
• Learn about the importance of NGS sample QC and the Agilent instrumentation
• Learn about the SureSelect target enrichment system to deliver robust, traceable, and reproducible sequencing data
• Learn how the Magnis NGS Prep system provides a completely automated workflow for NGS library preparation with SureSelect reagents

Alicia Burt
Senior Product Manager
Magnis NGS Prep System
Agilent Technologies
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Webinar 2: The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) Initiative: Generation of High-Quality Reference Genomes of European Species

One of the key steps for cataloging biodiversity across Europe was the establishment of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) initiative, a pan-European consortium of over 500 members pursuing the generation high quality reference genome assemblies of European species. To demonstrate the feasibility of this continent-wide collaboration, ERGA has launched a pilot project aiming to generate at least one high-quality reference genome for each European country that can support biological discovery. Since its initiation in 2021, the project has entered approximately 95 species across 35 European countries and regions. Using the Agilent TapeStation High Sensitivity D5000 and RNA ScreenTapes, the team has evaluated DNA and RNA quality and integrity of numerous tissues (for example, organs, blood, whole insects, and plant material) from various organisms. Quality assessment of RNA extractions and evaluation of the total DNA lysate is essential for successful Hi-C and RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) library preparations.

Key learning objectives

• Learn about the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) project and its goals
• Learn about quality control methods used for Hi-C and RNA-Seq libraries, and for DNA and RNA extracts.
• Learn the importance of DNA and RNA quality assessment for the project, and how the Agilent TapeStation system is integrated.

Rainer Nitsche, Ph.D.
Product Manager
Agilent Technologies, Germany
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Dr. Alice Mouton
Researcher
University of Liege
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Dr. Genevieve Diedericks
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Antwerp
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Certificate of attendance
All webinar participants can request a certificate of attendance, including a learning outcomes summary, for continuing education purposes.