Hello DNA analyzers,
Great that so many attended the 3730 meeting on Tuesday. Those that did
not participate in the practical demonstrations, please do
not hesitate to ask Johanna Leppälä, Laura Kvist, Sami Sivula or Marjut
Kreivi to help you in starting to work with the new machine. You can
always also contact Jussi Vanhatalo from Applied Biosystems (09-69379427).
There are printed guides for the software available in room PT331.
Tutorials for GeneMapper and SeqScape and a guide for sequencing chemistry are available
only as CDs. I have downloaded these CDs on the server BIOL4 and you can
copy them onto your PC. The two training CDs are quite big and you can
also run them directly on CD (CDs are in PT331).
When you have samples run in the 3730, the idea is that the machine is
told to send your data to the server (BIOL4) into your personal folder.
You can then transfer or copy the data from the server to your own computer,
where you analyze it with the appropriate software.
You will also be able put the sample information in a file to a shared folder
(shared/future_runs/36cm_aray or /50cm_array) in the server. Hannele will
use that file for the run and then she will move it to the "processed
runs" folder. There will be template excell files and instructions available under
the "Shared" folder for making these sample informations files.
In this way the one PC in PT331 can only be used for running the machine.
I have also put guides and training programs (3730 DNA Analyzeres User
Guide, 3730 Sequencing chemistry guide, GeneMapper 3.5 training
Seqscape 1.1.1 training) under a folder called "Shared/guides/".
To get an access to the server BIOL4, you need to write an e-mail to Kai Niemelä,
and tell him your name, domain name and whether you are a student or a
researcher (graduate students are reseachers). If you want to keep a copy
of your data in that server it is possible for some time, we will just
need to follow how fast the hard disc will get filled.
The software that is used for analyzing the data (SeqA, GeneMapper, and
Seqscape) can be donwloaded to your own PC. Seqscape and GeneMapper work
only in quite efficient PCs, so pay attention to the requirements.
Seqscape and SeqA work with Windows 2000 and XP. The
current version of Genemapper only works with Windows 2000, the new (will
be available in December) works with XP too. There
are three registration codes for the programs and thee simultaneous users
are allowed. If you want to download a program, please
contact me or Johanna Leppälä.
I have attached the special offer for the first order ("kertatilaus
laitehankinnan yhteydessä") that I got from Applied Biosystems. I will
receive prices for the reagent agreement for new consumables later,
maybe not before next Tuesday. I will forward them as soon as I get them.
The preliminary information was that in the reagent agreement we will have
35% reduction for plasticware and at least 10% for other things (buffer,
polymer, size standards, capillaries); for
oligos there was no info. The existing reagent agreement is of course
valid and it already includes e.g. the Big Dye kits.
The reference price lists of Genomic assays and custom oligos, and Genetic
analysis reagents and application kits are available in PT331 and if needed I can
send them electronically.
I suggest that you compare the regular agreement and the special
offer prices, and of course prices from other suppliers, and let me know
if you want to order something with the special offer prices. We hope that
we will be able to send the order soon, lets aim for
Thursday next week. We make a joint order and Sisko will divide the bill
for each group accordingly.
There are some consumable that need not to be ordered from Applied, e.g.
plates (check!). Of the dye set G5, PET, NED, VIC and the size
standard LIZ are only produced by them, and with a licence by some other
company. At least TAG Copenhagen has a cheaper dye that can be used
instead of VIC.
We think that it is best that every user/group buys their formamide,
because for sequencing there is also the option to put the samples in
water, and the sample volume is now much higher (10-20ul). The costs of
polymer, buffer, septas etc. will be shared as before, based on the number
of samples run by each group.
Last, I have booked a computer class (TH118) for the next training
session, for 27.-29.9. 8-16. There will be more information in September. I hope these
days suit many of you.
With regards,
Helmi
Helmi Kuittinen
Oulun yliopisto University of Oulu
Biologian laitos Department of Biology
PL 3000 P.O.Box 3000, 90014 University of Oulu
90014 Oulun yliopisto Finland
email: Helmi.Kuittinen(a)oulu.fi
tel. 358-(0)8-553 1803
fax 358-(0)8-553 1061
