Equipment Access

Welcome to Edinburgh Genomics open-access program. Through this service, University research groups have the opportunity to access specialised genomics instrumentation at Edinburgh Genomics, including equipment for DNA-RNA quality/quantity assessment, nucleic acids and protein size selection, real-time PCR, as well as nanopore sequencers.

How does it work?

We have an online booking system for these pieces of equipment. After registering with us (see below), you can log in to see availability in a calendar view, and reserve your preferred slot. The calendar will show available start times, which are within normal working hours (Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm). Wherever possible, please try to finish your work within normal hours of operation. You’ll need to have an idea of the duration required for your experiment - contact us in advance if you’re not sure. We understand that some analyses require longer run times, which can extend into evenings, overnight and weekends – please contact us prior to making a reservation which includes time outside normal hours.

You will also need to provide valid financial information to pay for the reservation. We need your grant codes or non-research funding account details.

Once the booking is made, you’ll receive an email confirmation with a handy calendar entry (.ics file) attachment which you can add to your favourite calendar app to remind you of your reservation, if you like. This will also go to our financial dept so they can process the appropriate charges.

Here is a guide on How to use the Online Booking System.

Who can use our Equipment?

This resource is currently limited to University of Edinburgh academic and technical staff and postgraduate students.

Equipment available

Type of Equipment Name of Equipment Example Usage

Electrophoresis – size separation analysis
  • Agilent TapeStation
  • Agilent Bioanalyser
  • DNA/RNA quality control
  • PCR analysis
  • NGS QC

Sonication
  • Covaris LE220
  • Shearing/Fragmenting DNA and RNA

Size Selection
  • Sage BluePippin
  • SageELF
  • DNA Size Selection for NGS, with Pulsed-Field (100bp – 50kb)
  • Whole Sample Fractionation of DNA or Protein

DNA Nanopore Sequencers
  • Oxford Nanopore PromethION P24
  • Oxford Nanopore MinION
  • Whole genome long read sequencing
  • Direct RNA sequencing
  • Metagenomics

 

Real time PCR
  • Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast
  • qPCR – absolute and relative quantitation
  • NGS library quantitation
  • Gene expression measurement

How much does it cost?

Each piece of equipment has its own hourly rate based on cost of service contracts, depreciation and support/supervision/training required. The current rates are detailed in the booking system itself.

Conditions of access

Access to these machines is conditional on adequate training or experience and may be subject to supervised usage and training initially. You’ll need to provide valid, up-to-date financial information, too. You will be expected to provide your own consumables (reagents and plasticware etc.), however we have some consumables available for you to buy. Please talk to us in advance to check availability and price.

Registration

If you are interested in using any of these pieces of equipment (or indeed any others) then please take a moment to register your interest using the following online form:

https://forms.office.com/e/YMrpEwy5m4

If you have any queries about this new service, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

Booking system

Once registered, you can access the booking system here:

https://booking.bio.ed.ac.uk/egdp/