Wales Gene Park Genomic Facility

Harnessing genetics to advance research, healthcare, education and innovation.

We provide bespoke sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to biomedical research scientists throughout Wales.

High-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing, also known as next-generation sequencing (NGS), is routinely used for a range of applications in modern genetic and biomedical research.

Wales Gene Park’s flexible, bespoke approach helps researchers access high-throughput sequencing technology and associated bioinformatic analysis for biomedical research in Wales. Our team of experienced post-doctoral and technical staff works with academic and non-academic colleagues, providing expert advice and support to suit the needs of each research project, from project design through to tertiary analysis.

We ensure that access to these technologies is at a reasonable cost, to encourage effective uptake of this fundamental technology.

Technical facilities

Genome-scale next-generation sequencing

The Wales Gene Park (WPG) is now located in the Wales Genomic Health Centre at Coryton with colleagues from the All Wales Molecular Genomics Service (AWMGS) and Pathogen Genomics Unit (PenGU), offering access to NGS equipment within Cardiff University and NHS groups. Through flexible working arrangements, we aim to provide access to:

• Illumina MiSeq
• Illumina NextSeq 550
• Illumina NovaSeq 6000

Recent acquisition of an Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) PromethION 2 (P2) sequencer is allowing us to explore long-read sequencing and the benefits it brings.

Bioinformatics team

Working closely with the sequencing lab, our small team of bioinformaticians can help you to curate information from raw data, enabling you to achieve insight from your experiments. Our goal is to ensure genomic big data is properly exploited by medical research across Wales.

We collaborate with colleagues who work with the Wales Gene Park Genomic Laboratories to generate genomic big data for their research. Where capacity allows, we also collaborate with colleagues throughout Wales who outsource their sequencing requirements to third-party sequencing hubs.

What we do and how we help

We provide colleagues with a complete pipeline for genomic scale DNA and RNA Sequence analysis in medically important areas of genetic research, such as cancer, inherited cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders, all of which are priority health areas of the Welsh Government.

Our team will support your project from initial design through to grant applications, lab work, data generation, primary, secondary and tertiary analysis. We work collaboratively and flexibly with researchers to support research key performance indicators.

We are passionate in championing the role of high-throughput sequencing in modern biomedical research. We work closely with research colleagues and encourage adoption through workshops and seminars.

Our funding policy

Wales Gene Park is funded by Welsh Government through Genomic Partnership Wales. For our CU colleagues we can operate on a not-for-profit basis, recovering consumable costs and staff time only. External colleagues who work with us are required to pay VAT on staff costings. We work collaboratively with partners to meet the requirements of each project and deliver mutually beneficial outputs.

Please get in touch with walesgenepark@cardiff.ac.uk for further information.