Reply To: Trailblazer Level Purchase

[kathleen morrill]

Hi Lyle, thank you for your interest in the Trailblazer sequencing.

1. We send your dog’s variant call file (VCF) alongside a printed booklet about their genome. We will gladly facilitate full access to raw sequencing data such as BAM files and can easily set up a data transfer that works for you.

2. We use Illumina NovaSeq with at least 30x coverage (although usually higher) through the Broad Genomics Platform in Cambridge, MA.

3. Error rate will be comparable to error rates for human 30x genomes produced using that technology. We use the standard 30x sequencing pipeline at the Broad Genomics Platform, detailed here: http://genomics.broadinstitute.org/data-sheets/DTS_WGS_12-2019.pdf

4. We typically mail two saliva swabs which we pool together. Whole blood might offer certain improvements to sequencing accuracy but saliva is sufficient. We can work with a whole blood sample, if you would prefer. The booklet we print for Trailblazer dogs does include a tree of oral microbiome diversity, which would be absent for a blood sample. If you are interested in studying the micro-organisms present in your dog’s saliva, then sequencing from saliva offers that opportunity.

Feel free to reach out for more information,
Kathleen