Examining the Sequencing Sample Prep 'Ecosystem'

While Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future is blogging about Nick Loman's attempt to "estimate the number of second-generation sequencing machines in the wild," Keith Robison at Omics! Omics! is surveying the second-gen sample prep "ecosystem." He writes that because each manufacturer supplies its own collection of sample preparation kits, things have become complicated for third party suppliers that produce sample prep options. "For example, targeted re-sequencing using hybridization really needs to have the sequencing adapters blocked with competing oligos — and those will depend on which platform the sample has been prepared for," Robison writes, adding that "it would [be] great for benchmarking instruments if precisely the same library could be fed into multiple machines — and it would be great for researchers looking to buy sequencing capacity on the open market to be able to defer committing to a platform to the last minute." Of course, he says, it's not that simple, because selling kits is a "potentially lucrative" business teeming with "nasty (and silly) legal strategies."