History and Mission of the KUGR Facility
The Keck-UNM Genomics Resource (KUGR) is a shared facility that provides state-of-the-art technologies and expert assistance in genomics, gene expression, genetics and nucleic acid analyses to users at UNM and affiliated institutions. It was established in late 1999 with institutional funds, expanded a year later with a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation and is currently supported by user fees and State of New Mexico Tobacco Settlement Funds, with administrative and some salary support from the UNM Cancer Center.
The resource has an updated Affymetrix microarray system capable of whole-genome gene expression and genotyping assays as well as robots and instruments for high-throughput liquid handling and sample purification and analysis. The resource is supervised by faculty Director Scott A. Ness, Ph.D. and co-Director Jeremy S. Edwards, Ph.D., and is operated by an expert, full time staff.
The primary services offered by the KUGR resource are gene expression and genotyping (single nucleotide polymorphism and copy number) analyses using the Affymetrix GeneChip system and custom laboratory services such as quantitative real-time PCR and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays.
In addition to microarrays, the facility also offers several services based on real-time (Taqman) PCR including gene expression and genotyping assays, which are performed on two shared ABI 7900HT instruments. The resource performs real-time assays in 384 well format, which many users are not prepared to use on their own and which provides worthwhile cost-savings through smaller volume assays that use less expensive reagents.
In late 2008, the KUGR facility began its next phase of development with the purchase of a Danaher Motion Polonator, an advanced “next-generation” genome re-sequencing instrument developed in the laboratory of Dr. George Church at Harvard University. The Polonator is a very high throughput instrument and will be the basis of the next generation of services being developed for KUGR facility users, including whole genome sequencing, transcriptome sequencing and chromatin-IP-sequencing (ChIP-seq) for epigenetics assays.