Custom Designed Microarrays Give Genomics Researchers Greater Flexibility

Genomics researchers can now order custom designed microarray plates that will allow them to evaluate samples with from 1,500 to 2.6 million markers.

The new Axiom myDesign Targeted Genotyping (TG) Arrays are a product of Affymetrix, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA, USA). While Affymetrix encourages investigators to submit markers, many will prefer to depend on the well-characterized markers available in the Axiom Genomic Data Base.

The Axiom Genomic Database, with 11 million rare and common variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) greater than 1%, is derived from sources such as NHGRI, the International HapMap, and 1000 Genomes Project. Each marker is annotated by MAF, linkage disequilibrium (LD), and haplotype information, as well as SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) classification and biological function. The database also contains approximately four million SNPs associated with key processes or pathways important to the study of pharmacogenomics genes, cardiovascular disease, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region, and inflammatory and immunity disease, as well as genes from the Sanger Cancer Gene Census and previous association studies.

Affymetrix has rendered the custom design process much simpler by creating the Axiom Design Center, an easy-to-use, web-based tool in that enables the researcher to quickly select markers from the Axiom Genomic Database and design the custom array. The Axiom Design Center provides access to markers based on gene symbol, chromosome, region, locus ID, biological category, or from previous commercial microarrays, including Affymetrix and others.

"Axiom myDesign TG Arrays will help researchers to quickly evaluate interesting variants from their GWAS (genome wide association study), sequencing, and candidate gene initiatives without limiting the number of markers in their study," said Andy Last, Chief Commercial Officer of Affymetrix. "Customers who want to add newly discovered content after they complete the initial design can benefit from our new flexible content capability without switching platforms."

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