In the last decade or so, R&D into the human microbiome-based therapeutics and diagnostics has accelerated the widespread availability of next-generation DNA sequencing technologies that comprehensively profile complex microbiota through metagenomic approaches. However, measurements generated by different laboratories often display large variability due to protocol-dependent bias introduced at each step in the workflow. Driven by the needs identified by the industry-led Japan Microbiome Consortium (JMBC), we aimed to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for metagenomics-based microbiome profiling of human fecal samples. Join this webinar to hear about the steps that help set the SOPs in human fecal microbial profiling:
- The first phase of this study systematically compared a myriad of protocols for DNA extraction and library construction using newly developed mock communities.
- In the second phase, reproducibility and transferability of highly performant protocols were assessed in an industry-based interlaboratory study and as part of the MOSAIC Standards Challenge study.
The widespread uptake of our SOPs, which include the QIAseq FX DNA Library Kit for library construction, and best-practice guidelines, is expected to increase the accuracy of NGS-based metagenome profiling results across the microbiome field.