Today Fluidigm introduced
a new integrated fluidic circuit (IFC) - called the Access Array -- specifically
designed to support high-throughput re-sequencing, targeted enrichment, sample
barcoding, and library preparation for sequencing using amplicon tagging. The
Access Array IFC complements Fluidigm's SlingShot™ Sample Quantitation
Kit that together provide researchers with a complete front-end Next-Gen Library
Fluidigm’s new Access Array is the first IFC that features the ability
to harvest the sample out of the chip. Once the sample processing has been completed
in the chip it automatically returns the sample to the inlets where they can
be easily extracted and placed into a quantitation step and readied for sequencing.
Fluidigm also announced an Early Access Program for Access Arrays where researchers
can submit a proposal describing how the new chip would help their next-generation
library sample preparation efforts. Winners will have Fluidigm “do the
work for them” - FREE*.
“Next-gen sequencing is one of the “hottest” areas in life
sciences, but it is plagued with cumbersome sample preparation procedures, long
cycles and costly experiments. The Access Array is our fourth integrated fluidic
circuit product line. It continues to build our portfolio of enabling solutions
to simplify front-end preparation and expand the applications space of next-gen
sequencers,” said Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm president and chief executive
The Access Array System, which consists of IFCs, instruments and software,
is the first IFC product that allows next-generation sequencing users to automatically
prepare their libraries and tag them with unique barcodes to allow multiplex
In addition, targeted re-sequencing (using target enrichment) has become important
as researchers look at specific regions in large cohort studies. Up-to-now,
large sample studies have been too expensive and labor-intensive to be performed
on next generation sequencers effectively and efficiently. Fluidigm’s
Access Array System allows researchers to target specific areas of interest
to be enriched and barcoded so that a large number of samples can be sequenced
at the same time.
Fluidigm’s new Access Array IFC can process 48 samples against 48 amplicons
(primer pairs) providing 2,304 independent reactions at a time. Only six steps
are required to get the results from these thousands of experiments. Because
of the Access Array chip’s ultra-tiny microfluidic reaction chambers the
chip minimizes reagent consumption and costs. Operator time is reduced six-fold
when compared with conventional methods.
Fluidigm’s Access Array System joins the company’s IFC portfolio
of Dynamic Arrays (that maximize gene-expression analysis and genotyping efficiency),
Digital Arrays (that provide a practical solution for PCR applications demanding
extreme accuracy of copy number), and TOPAZ chips (that support the broadest
protein crystallization exploration in the marketplace).