In the future, it is expected that the DNA methylation information of each individual will be used for early prevention of diseases and as a surrogate marker to improve lifestyle. However, the capture sequencing method is expensive and requires a large amount of DNA, which has been a challenge. At this time, with the cooperation of Twist Bioscience, they created a capture probe set to measure CpG at approximately 1,000 locations and evaluated it, especially for the amount of DNA required. As a result, it was confirmed that capture sequencing was possible with less than 200 ng of DNA compared to other reagents. In this talk, Dr. Shimizu presents their epigenome research at IMM, their recently published work on epigenetic age, and the results of the use of the Twist Bioscience Methylation detection system.    

Twist’s new RNA Exome panel uses a novel exon-aware design strategy to target known protein-coding isoforms and enable the discovery of novel fusion genes. We evaluated panel performance, showing relative transcript abundances are preserved after hybrid capture. We also show gains in sequencing efficiency and demonstrate the ability to capture novel structural variants, such as RNA fusions common in cancers. We discuss our bioinformatic approach to evaluate capture performance for RNA and challenges in the analysis of RNA-seq experiments.

In this workshop, hear from customers benefiting from Twist’s optimized Methyl-seq solution to study epigenetic changes in humans. Learn how they’ve designed and optimized their workflows, see how their exploring epigenetic changes as a predictor of disease, and understand why they have chosen Twist solutions for their research.