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Working with us
Enquiries: If you are interested in working with the Earlham Institute (EI) on a project or research, please contact us.
Whether you are looking for research collaboration, contract research or training on single-cell platforms, our expert team provides access to cutting-edge cell sorting and single-cell genomics infrastructure and expertise.
Platform Leads:
From isolation through to analysis
We can support all stages of a single- or multi-cell analysis, from cell isolation, to library preparation, sequencing and analysis.
If you are starting with tissue, sorted cells or even pre-made libraries, we have the platforms and expertise to support your project.
Our platforms for single-cell isolation
Housed in Biosafety Level 2 Labs, EI has a number of platforms for single-cell isolation for sequencing.
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Advanced cell sorting enabling high parameter single-cell sorting.
Our advanced cell sorter has a five laser configuration - UV (355nm), Yellow-Green (561nm), Violet (405 nm), Blue (488 nM), Red (640 nm) and index sorting capability.
Enabling up to 20-parameter sorts, the Fusion can be used to isolate extremely rare cells from complex populations, for example, blood stem and progenitor cells or different immune cell populations.
This instrument can sort into 96- and 384- well plates and can also be used for enrichment sorts before single-cell analysis on the 10X Genomics Chromium Instrument.
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Simplified cell sorting with advanced capabilities.
Our instrument has a three laser configuration - Violet (405 nm), Blue (488 nM), Red (640 nm) and index sorting capability.
We routinely use this for fast sorting of single-fluorophore samples (e.g. GFP+ cell selection) or multiparameter single-cell sorts into 96- and 384- well plates for downstream genomic or transcriptomic analysis. We also perform enrichment sorts before single-cell (or single-nucleus) analysis on the 10X Genomics Chromium platform.
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Cell sorting and imaging in parallel.
Our cellenONE instrument is similar to FACS, but overcomes some of the challenges encountered when sorting larger, or more fragile cells. Using a glass capillary, individual cells are imaged and gently dispensed into an array of substrates, including 96- and 384- well plates.
The instrument is also equipped with four fluorescence channels (DAPI, GFP, Cy3/RFP and Cy5) enabling live/dead cell selection and isolation of rare cell populations. As the instrument sorts, it images each cell, and so some information about cell phenotype can be associated with any downstream sequencing.
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High-throughput single-cell sequencing.
The latest in advanced single-cell analysis technology, the Chromium X platform supports protocols for 3’ and 5’ RNA-sequencing (including V(D)J immune cell profiling) as well as ATAC-seq, CITE-seq and multi-omic profiling. Chromium X has increased the capacity of the 10X system to enable loading of 16 samples and up to 20,000 cells per sample. The platform also has improved user interface and overall system stability.
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Isolation of single cells or micro biopsies from tissue sections.
Our laser microdissection platform can image and cut individual cells, or regions of interest, from tissue sections and collect them in tubes or 96-well plates for downstream analysis.
The instrument is a fluorescence microscope, equipped with three fluorescence channels (DAPI, GFP and Cy3/RFP) and high magnification lenses (up to 150X) allowing fine dissection of regions or cells of interest.
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Spatial Transcriptomics
The Merscope is a state-of-the-art spatial genomics platform that enables the visualization and mapping of hundreds to tens of thousands of RNA species.
The instrument utilises the MERFISH (Multiplexed Error Robust Fluorescence In Situ Hydridization) technology to quantify and map the transcriptome of whole tissues down to a sub cellular level.
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Our single-cell sequencing workflows
After cell isolation, we have a number of workflows to generate, sequence and analyse single-cell libraries.
Single-cell library preparation
Single-cell library preparation
Our Genomics Pipelines team offer a complete workflow for Smart-seq2 single-cell RNA-seq analysis, from provision of cell lysis plates through to library preparation, sequencing and preliminary data analysis.
For more bespoke single-cell projects, our single cell team can assist with cell sorting, 10X Genomics applications and other methods, including single-cell RNA and DNA sequencing on a wide variety of organisms.
Single-cell sequencing
Single-cell sequencing.
Single-cell libraries are sequenced on our Genomics Pipelines team’s illumina NovaSeq, ideal for cost-effective sequencing of single-cell libraries at any scale.
Single-cell data analysis
Single-cell data analysis
EI’s extensive computational infrastructure can support standard analysis of Smart-seq2 or 10X Genomics datasets, data QC, mapping and quantification.
Our in-house expertise can also support more advanced analysis.
Why work with us
Incorporating EI's single-cell genomics in your projects will provide:
- Access to a wide range of platforms to support different sample types - whether it is a standard 10X Genomics RNA-seq experiment, or something more bespoke, we will be able to help
- Experiments run by a dedicated team of experienced single-cell biologists - we have over ten years experience with cell sorting for single-cell and genomics applications, and have published a number of high impact papers and key technical developments in this field
- Additional support and expertise from EI’s Genomics Pipelines team - from sample receipt to sequencing, all processing is taken care of under one roof. Advanced next-generation sequencing capability and expertise are on hand
Iain and the team at the Earlham Institute gave us great confidence. Our project involved sequencing of single cells to determine transcription profiles, which can be quite expensive, so we wanted to get it right the first time.
They are a great team to work with and were happy to go that bit further to give us the best possible service. We will do more work with the team and look forward to future projects.
Andrew Gane, Product Strategy and Technology Manager, Genomics and Diagnostics Solutions, Cytiva
