Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) today announced that it has released an unparalleled data set based on extensive validation of novel SNPs from the 1000 Genomes Project. This data will give researchers access to more rare mutations for genome-wide association studies and will enable the rapid design of custom arrays for a variety of applications, including the validation of sequencing results.
“This groundbreaking work has taken raw data from discovery projects and translated it into the first usable format”
In an ongoing effort to screen novel, newly discovered SNPs, Affymetrix has used the Axiom™ Genotyping Solution to screen millions of SNPs across multiple populations. The release of this data set—comprising approximately 500,000 SNPs from the 1000 Genomes Project that have been genotyped across the 270 HapMap samples—demonstrates the comprehensiveness of Affymetrix' larger, highly curated database, which contains genotype calls and other useful annotations across millions of SNPs.
A team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research have used the initial data set to design a custom array as part of a 100,000-sample genotyping study for Kaiser Permanente's Research Program on Genes, Environment, and Health (RPGEH).
"Without this data set, we could not have easily achieved the objectives of our initial custom array design, which included genomic coverage, inclusion of SNPs of interest, and coverage of genes thought to be highly relevant in our study," said Dr. Neil Risch, Director of the Institute for Human Genetics at UCSF. "The wealth of information that accompanied the genotype calls was paramount to the successful design of our array."
By combining SNPs from this data set with Affymetrix' Axiom Custom Genotyping Arrays, which enable researchers to customize up to 2.6 million SNPs on a single array plate, the next wave of genome-wide association studies can now be realized. The comprehensive information contained in the data set can also be used in conjunction with a variety of imputation techniques that are gaining in adoption.
"This groundbreaking work has taken raw data from discovery projects and translated it into the first usable format," said Kevin King, President and CEO of Affymetrix. "This will enable scientists to effectively use the 1000 Genomes Project SNP data and a host of other validated SNPs and annotations from different sources. By combining this data with our Axiom Custom Genotyping Arrays, researchers in need of custom arrays are no longer constrained by information or technology limitations."
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