GenomeQuest has released the Digital Gene Expression Workflow for its sequence analysis software platform. The workflow is designed to support researchers running gene expression experiments with next-generation sequencing platforms, the company said.
The Digital Gene Expression Workflow provides gene expression reports and an integrated gene viewer, and allows users to drill down to individual alignments.
GenomeQuest said that the workflow supports data from the Illumina Genome Analyzer, Applied Biosystems SOLiD system, Helicos Genetic Analysis System, and 454 FLX Genome Sequencer.
Illumina is releasing new software for its Genome Analyzer IIx system that will allow scientists to increase their sequencing output on this instrument by up to 65 percent compared with the Genome Analyzer II.
The software, scheduled for release on May 12, has improved cluster detection, giving a 40 percent increase in reads per flow cell and lower error rates, Illumina said.
The software also enables base calling and quality assessment on the sequencer's instrument control workstation, which the company said reduces the need to transfer large data files across networks and minimizes data storage requirements.
In addition, the software improvements "require only the computing power that runs the sequencer," the company said.
"These advances in Genome AnalyzerII informatics represent the latest milestone on the path for researchers to generate 95 gigabases of data per run by year's end," said Scott Kahn, chief information officer at Illumina, in a statement.