This webinar will present a method for RNA-seq expression analysis of FFPE-derived RNA samples that are too degraded for successful application of standard RNA-seq techniques.

Biobanks consisting of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) patient samples, collected over decades, present unique opportunities for studying gene expression in large cohorts of patients with a given disease. This approach, however, has been limited by the high degree of RNA degradation in FFPE-derived samples, in some cases leading to more than half of the biobank samples being discarded.

This webinar will introduce a method for successfully generating libraries and analyzing FFPE-derived RNA samples so degraded that less than 20 percent of the RNA fragments have a length above 200 nucleotides. Our speaker, Anne-Margrethe Krogsdam Christensen of Innsbruck Medical University, will discuss a comparison of the results from FFPE samples and matched fresh-frozen samples, and finally across a cohort of patient cancer samples.

Dr. Krogsdam Christensen will explain how her team has been able to generate viable libraries and quality sequencing data, regardless of the degree of degradation, thereby strongly pushing the limits for FFPE samples that can be included in analysis.