Overcoming the Clinical Sample Bottleneck for Expression Studies

DATE:  October 4, 2016
TIME:  8:00am PT, 11:00am ET

Extracting robust expression data from clinical samples represents a unique opportunity to find actionable biomarkers. But it does not come without challenges. Clinical samples such as whole blood and feces are technically challenging to work with, often of poor quality, and provide limited amounts of high-quality RNA making it difficult to generate reproducible and informative expression data.
 
Feces, in particular, are increasingly identified as useful non-invasive samples for molecular diagnosis of infectious disease, but their composition consists of a complex microbial community making the identification of human RNA signatures problematic. Whole blood is also a desirable sample type as it is widely available and collection is relatively non-invasive and inexpensive. Yet 70% of mRNA in whole blood is globin mRNA released from red blood cells, introducing noise and decreasing the sensitivity for detecting relevant transcripts. Most expression technologies require the removal of globin mRNA from the sample before processing, a time-consuming and costly step that introduces bias. Due to such challenges, researchers are demanding better expression methods for use with clinical samples, like whole blood and feces.
 
Choosing the right transcriptome profiling tool compatible with clinical samples is key to generating informative biomarkers that can be used to improve human health.
 
During this webinar, leading translational researchers will:

• Demonstrate how novel transcriptome profiling assays can reliably identify biomarkers from even the most challenging of samples including feces.
• Explain how to generate robust expression data from small amounts of whole blood without the need to eliminate globin mRNA, saving time and money while retaining data integrity.
• Discuss the importance of choosing the right technology to obtain reliable data from rare samples while still preserving material for future use.  
• Answer your questions live during the broadcast!

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.