About the Core
Mission
The DNA Services (DNAS) facility is a customer-friendly facility dedicated to assisting with and collaborating on research projects involving nucleic acids, with an emphasis on nucleic acid extraction, cell-line authentication, quantitative PCR, and sequencing (Sanger and next-generation). The DNAS facility aims to provide research support through access to high-end instrumentation and to knowledgeable staff capable of conducting projects from sample to data analysis. The DNAS facility also offers scientific support through assistance in project design and planning, manuscript and grant writing, rapid generation of preliminary data, and letters of support.
Vision
The DNAS facility aims to acquire instrumentation to serve the primary needs of UIC faculty and researchers, with a focus on supporting next-generation sequencing needs, including DNAseq, RNAseq, single-cell sequencing, ChIP-seq, methyl-seq, and microbiome sequencing (amplicon and shotgun). Due to the rapid change in sequencing technology, the DNAS facility is not sequencing to acquire additional sequencing instrumentation; rather, by partnering with other facilities, the DNAS facility can most efficiently provide users with the most advanced sequencing instrumentation. The DNAS facility is looking to improve automation at the next-generation sequencing library preparation step (i.e. converting total genomic DNA and total RNA to sequencer-ready molecules) to increase throughput and reproducibility. The DNAS facility is also looking to build capacity for shotgun metagenome and metatranscriptome sequencing for microbiome studies, as the field begins to shift away from amplicon-based sequencing as a primary tool for microbiome research. Thus, the future of the DNAS facility will include additional automation for library preparation, increased throughput for big-data sequencing projects, and partnerships with other sequencing institutions to provide customer access to the lowest cost, highest data output instrumentation available.