The HLA-C Gene

The HLA-C gene is a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I gene located on human chromosome 6. It is a member of the MHC Class I family of genes, which are responsible for the recognition and presentation of antigens to the immune system.…

Understand How To Best Utilize HLA Typing

HLA typing is a laboratory test used to determine the type of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) that an individual has. HLA are proteins found on the surface of white blood cells, and they play an important role in how our immune system recognizes…

The HLA-B Gene

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is a group of genes located on chromosome 6 that play a crucial role in the immune system. The HLA-B gene is one of the many genes that make up the HLA system, and it is responsible for encoding a protein…

The HLA-A Gene

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system is a critical component of the immune system and an essential subject of medical research. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is an integral part of the HLA system, and the HLA-A gene is a key…

HLA Typing and HLA Genes in Research: A Primer

Immunology is the study of the immune system, which includes both innate and adaptive immunity. This includes antibodies, specialized proteins that recognize foreign invaders such as bacteria or viruses; T cells, specialized white blood cells…

Nanopore Long-Reads Coming to HLA

GenDx announced NGS-Turbo, a long-read HLA sequencing product for Nanopore instruments. Although we will have to see the actual protocol in practice, HLA sequencing with Nanopore long-reads should offer significant benefits in relation to short-read…

Novel HLA Allele Identified

In May, 2020, we reported on the likely discovery of a novel HLA-B allele (https://bit.ly/3TsmmtY). At that time, we performed HLA typing and sequence alignments against the then current version of the IMGT/HLA database, namely, v.3.38.0. The…

Illumina Announces Long Reads

Illumina recently announced the upcoming availability of long-read technology at the 40th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, in a press release and on Illumina's Genomics Research Hub.  The new long-read sequencing assay is code-named…

On an HLA Null Allele Case Study

A recent case study report describes the discovery of a novel HLA null allele and its effect on protein synthesis and gene expression (Rozar, 2021).  We occasionally deliver HLA reports that include null alleles.  This case study highlights…

Celebrating 5 Years of Sequencing

We are celebrating 5 years in business!  We are so grateful to our clients worldwide who have helped us build our business and successfully hit the 5-year mark.  Without your continued business, it would not have been possible to make it this…

The Sequencing Center Now Offers Long-Read Sequencing Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fort Collins, Colorado, 10/12/2020 - The Sequencing Center, a genome sequencing service provider for biological and clinical research, announced today that it will offer long-read sequencing services to supplement its…
hla imgt database

How Did We Discover a Novel HLA Allele?

Introduction One of the pleasures of owning a genomics company is assisting client researchers with new discoveries.  Recently, one of our clients completed an 11-loci, 4-field HLA typing project for a clinical trial project.  Using Illumina…
SARS-COV2 spike protein

HLA Susceptibility in SARS-CoV-2

Intro Nguyen et al. recently published a paper "Human leukocyte antigen susceptibili8ty map for SARS-CoV-2" in the Journal of Virology  Using in-silico methods, they assessed the binding affinities of MHC Class I alleles (HLA-A, HLA-B,…
Multiplexed samples reduces cost

Cost Savings with Multiplex Samples

Multiplex Sequencing Multiplexing is a method of combining two or more samples (pooling samples) in a single sequencing run.  Multiplexing can increase the throughput of sequencing runs and save money at the same time. Conceptually, multiplexing…
hla typing

The Cost of HLA Typing

At The Sequencing Center, one of the main services that we provide to pharmaceutical, academic, and clinical researchers is HLA Typing. HLA Typing (human leukocyte antigen) is most commonly leveraged for matching patients and donors for bone…

Bacteriophage DNA Extraction Protocol

We routinely perform bacteriophage whole genome sequencing.  However, we do not currently offer phage DNA extraction services.  Instead, researchers perform phage DNA extraction at their own facilities and then ship purified gDNA to our sequencing…
The Ultimate Guide to Genome Sequencing

With 510% Revenue Growth Powered by Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and USDA, The Sequencing Center Sets Eyes on Larger $9B Genetics Market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fort Collins, Colorado, 01/10/2019 - The Sequencing Center, a genome sequencing provider for biological and clinical research, announced a year-over-year revenue growth of 510%. Throughout the year, The Sequencing Center…
Genome Expression Sequencing

The Influence of Genetics on Clinical Research

Like any new technology adoption curve, genome sequencing has gone through the typical hype cycle. We start to leverage a new technology and it becomes massively hyped as the thing that will "change everything" only to realize that we don't…
clinical diagnostics

Increasing Access to Genome Sequencing for Clinical Diagnostics

As genome sequencing continues to decrease in price and increase in demand, the desire for many clinical organizations to leverage genome sequencing as a clinical diagnostic means continues to get traction. In a recent change, the California…