Jessica Henley, NGS Core Coordinator, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (CSU photo)
Armed with a machine that looks a little like R2-D2, Jessica Henley hunts down the tiniest of bad guys. She runs CSU’s Next-Generation Sequencing core, which uses Illumina sequencers to identify genetic changes that cause disease.
“We’re doing a little bit of pathogen hunting to find that needle in a haystack, to try to see what is causing the illness,” says Henley, the genomics core coordinator who uses the Illumina MiSeq and NextSeq 2000 instruments to read nitrogenous bases in DNA and RNA.
“This helps us understand what is encoded in the genetic material for an organism or group of organisms. This can be helpful for a lot of things,” she said. “For example, there’s a large group of CSU microbiology researchers looking at things that can’t be cultured, so the only way we can identify what’s there is by reading the DNA and figuring out what might be growing in the environment we’re looking at. If all the laboratory tests have not popped a positive and we’re not sure what is causing an illness, there are methods using sequencing to see what kind of genes are being activated.”
This information impacts public health by allowing researchers to “put measures in place to try to control spread of disease,” Henley said. “Or even just the fact that we can sequence an entire genome so much more quickly now can lead to advances in vaccine development.”
Located in the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on South Campus, the Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) core added two new Illumina instruments about 10 years ago, under the direction of Mark Stenglein, Ph.D., and Christie Mayo, D.V.M., Ph.D., through an initiative of the CSU Office of the Vice President for Research.
Henley came to CSU last year from CU Boulder, where she spent 14 years at an environmental microbiology lab that used sequencing to study microbial communities. “Once I heard that CSU was going to reinvent their sequencing core and was looking for a core coordinator, I was excited to move up here,” Henley said. She plans to add a full-time research associate and is working on adding RNA sample preparation components to the core’s capabilities.
“I think it’s really important for folks to know that this technology is really fast moving,” Henley said. “I started using sequencing techniques back in 2010 on a completely different type of sequencer using a completely different technology. It’s now completely obsolete.”
Dr. Christie Mayo (CVMBS photo)
In the nearly 25 years since the Human Genome Project unlocked our genetic code, scientists have used sequencing to understand changes in DNA. Next-Generation Sequencing refers to faster and cheaper technologies that became available after that project was completed using the first-generation method of Sanger sequencing.
“There’s just constant development to expand the use and to lower the cost,” Henley said. “So even if a project people had dreamed up a few years ago was not possible, I would encourage them not to forget about it because you never know when new tools or new sequencing capabilities or lowering costs will make those kinds of projects completely within reach.”
Putting sequencing within reach for researchers is core to the NGS core. “We are fitting into this niche where we’re working with projects that are very new, trying new things. Maybe the samples aren’t great quality. Maybe a student is trying to understand how to use this technology in the best possible way for their research, and so they need a little bit more consultation time or some question/answer time. So we’re unique in that regard,” said Henley, who offers workshops and seminars to users.
Next-level vision
The Next-Generation Sequencing core uses the Illumina NextSeq 2000 to read genetic samples. (CVMBS photo)
“Jessica is bringing in new ideas, new light, new vision to the core,” Mayo said. “She’s taking it to a different level.”
Researchers can see that new level in action at the National Animal Health Laboratory Network Next-Generation Sequencing Symposia at CSU in July. The hands-on workshop will offer training in sequencing and bioinformatics.
“It’s connecting researchers here on campus with the things that are available for what they’re trying to accomplish. People on campus have been asking for this type of thing, so I think it’ll be a really great experience for researchers,” Henley said. “It’s completely free for them and they can actually bring their samples and learn how to do this technique with their samples. We sequence them. They get the data, we take them through how to analyze it, so they’re going through the entire workflow, learning with samples they care about.”
This workshop will aid in infectious disease diagnostics and inform outbreak responses in the animal health laboratory setting, and has a national impact, said Mayo. “You can really do this educational component hands-on with Illumina reps. It’s very integrative. Jessica’s idea for this workshop brings sequencing to a different community for the national Animal Health Laboratory Network.”
The core serves the CSU community and beyond, with USDA contracts and interest from local industry and the National Science Foundation. “It will be great to expand it to some of the other universities, especially in Colorado, that don’t have their own sequencing core,” Henley said. “We want to make sure that if any researcher wants to branch out into a new area or use this technology to complement their research, they have the resources available to them to do that.”