Miami Biology professor featured in DNA sequencing video series
Andor Kiss appears in PacBio's Beyond the Bench series discussing DNA sequencing technology
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Published
Andor Kiss and a PacBio staff member discuss DNA sequencing in a screenshot from episode two of the Beyond the Bench video series.
Miami Biology professor featured in DNA sequencing video series
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Published
Vinyl records and DNA sequencing might not seem like they have a lot in common, but in a video by PacBio, adjunct assistant professor of Biology Andor Kiss made a case for their similarities.
PacBio is the producer of the Vega benchtop sequencing system, an instrument Miami University acquired last year for the Center of Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics (CBFG), of which Kiss is also the director.
The video is part of the PacBio Beyond the Bench series, which highlights scientists, what drives them, and how DNA sequencing plays a role in their research. In the second episode, Kiss talked about helping students at Miami pick the DNA sequencer that will best supply the data they need for the research they’re conducting. Katarina Teasdale, a junior Biology major who Kiss is supervising, made an appearance in the video as well. Teasdale described using the Vega instrument for the first time to sequence the eye lens proteins of caimans, a type of alligator native to Central and South America.
Kiss also dove into his love for tinkering and curiosity for how things work, including rebuilding an old turntable. Within the video, Kiss likened the information encoded into the grooves of a vinyl record to the information encoded in DNA. “The vast amount of information that you can pull from the same source material is analogous to the difference between playing a record on a cheap record player versus an expensive turntable,” Kiss said. “The vinyl record is the same; the DNA you start off with is the same, but the information you can extract from it has increased tremendously.”
By using HiFi long-read sequencing technology, the Vega system is able to not only sequence larger DNA fragments compared to other sequencers, its ease of use is beneficial to graduate and undergraduate students alike doing research for the first time.
“This was a really great opportunity to talk about the accessibility of the Vega at Miami,” Kiss said about being in the Beyond the Bench series. “It’s nice to see new technology like this featured, and Miami is fortunate in that we’re the first school of this size in the Midwest to have this. It puts us on the same footing as much larger institutions.”
He added that he hopes the video will drive more laboratories to use the Vega system, leading to more exciting scientific discoveries.
PacBio is the producer of the Vega benchtop sequencing system, an instrument Miami University acquired last year for the Center of Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics (CBFG), of which Kiss is also the director.
The video is part of the PacBio Beyond the Bench series, which highlights scientists, what drives them, and how DNA sequencing plays a role in their research. In the second episode, Kiss talked about helping students at Miami pick the DNA sequencer that will best supply the data they need for the research they’re conducting. Katarina Teasdale, a junior Biology major who Kiss is supervising, made an appearance in the video as well. Teasdale described using the Vega instrument for the first time to sequence the eye lens proteins of caimans, a type of alligator native to Central and South America.
Kiss also dove into his love for tinkering and curiosity for how things work, including rebuilding an old turntable. Within the video, Kiss likened the information encoded into the grooves of a vinyl record to the information encoded in DNA. “The vast amount of information that you can pull from the same source material is analogous to the difference between playing a record on a cheap record player versus an expensive turntable,” Kiss said. “The vinyl record is the same; the DNA you start off with is the same, but the information you can extract from it has increased tremendously.”
By using HiFi long-read sequencing technology, the Vega system is able to not only sequence larger DNA fragments compared to other sequencers, its ease of use is beneficial to graduate and undergraduate students alike doing research for the first time.
“This was a really great opportunity to talk about the accessibility of the Vega at Miami,” Kiss said about being in the Beyond the Bench series. “It’s nice to see new technology like this featured, and Miami is fortunate in that we’re the first school of this size in the Midwest to have this. It puts us on the same footing as much larger institutions.”
He added that he hopes the video will drive more laboratories to use the Vega system, leading to more exciting scientific discoveries.
Established in 1809, Miami University is located in Oxford, Ohio, with regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, a learning center in West Chester, and a European study center in Luxembourg. Interested in learning more about the Center of Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics? Visit the website for more information.
