Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) today launched the Infinium® HD (High Density) iSelect Custom Genotyping solution. Researchers now have the flexibility to screen SNPs ranging from 3,000 to 200,000 in focused genotyping studies for both human and non-human species. This higher-density iSelect Custom Genotyping technology is the most versatile solution of its kind in the industry. It offers high data quality, high-throughput capabilities, and flexible sample multiplexing to screen any SNP in any species.

The first commercially available products made with the Infinium HD iSelect technology include the OvineSNP50 and PorcineSNP60 BeadChips. These 12-sample SNP genotyping products add to Illumina’s expanding agriculture portfolio, helping researchers detect genome-wide genetic variation in any breed of pig or sheep. The new panels were developed in collaboration with leading researchers at international consortia and utilized Illumina’s Genome Analyzer, public databases, and other marker discovery approaches for content selection. Illumina now offers five standard products for agricultural research: BovineSNP50, EquineSNP50, CanineSNP20, PorcineSNP60, and OvineSNP50 BeadChips.

AgResearch New Zealand scientist John McEwan, Ph.D., who was involved in the sequencing and SNP discovery component of the OvineSNP50 BeadChip development, was impressed with the new ovine array. “We have produced a high-quality product that exceeds our expectations. The challenge now is to improve farmed sheep productivity and disease resistance using the OvineSNP50 BeadChip. Working with Illumina’s FastTrack Genotyping Services, we’ve genotyped close to three thousand samples with the OvineSNP50 BeadChip and we plan to genotype at least the same number of samples every year hereafter.”

At this week’s Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) conference in San Diego, California, scientists from major agricultural research institutions, including Martien Groenen, Ph.D., Professor of the Animal Breeding and Genetics Group at Wageningen University, and Brian P. Dalrymple, Ph.D., of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Livestock Industries, on behalf of the International Sheep Genomics Consortium, will present overviews of their work developing custom genotyping panels with Illumina.

“Researchers from a wide range of markets work with Illumina because iSelect is the only custom whole-genome genotyping technology optimized for use with both human and non-human samples,” said Joel McComb, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Illumina’s Life Sciences Business Unit. “By deploying the Infinium HD assay on the iSelect platform customers have access to more than three times the number of SNPs per sample than on our previously designed iSelect panels.”

The expansion of the Illumina iSelect offering provides researchers more freedom to design custom panels from the large amount of human variant information generated by research programs, such as the 1,000 Genomes Project. Agricultural researchers will be able to create more effective genotyping panels for complex or less well understood genomes.

Infinium HD iSelect Genotyping BeadChips represent only one aspect of Illumina’s broad portfolio of genetic analysis tools for human and agricultural research. These array-based assays, along with Illumina sequencing technology, support the industry’s broadest range of genetic analysis applications. SNPs discovered using Illumina sequencing can be deployed on custom arrays. Lower multiplex assays, using Illumina VeraCode technology, support efficient screening. For more information about Illumina products empowering agricultural researchers, please visit https://www.illumina.com/agriculture.