Svetlana Madjunkova from the CReATe Fertility Centre in Canada presented at the Nanopore Community Meeting in Boston. The session’s title was “Nanopore sequencing in reproductive care.” Nanopore sequencing can be used in reproductive care at several stages of assistive reproductive therapies. Preimplantation genetic testing can improve the success of transfers. Madjunkova noted that current next-generation sequencing approaches cannot detect balanced carriers from normal embryos. This is important because microdeletions and rearrangements can be missed. Madjunkova explained how they use nanopore sequencing to identify breakpoints and sites on both chromosomes. With the MinION platform, the team was able to identify gene disruptions and resolve complex carrier genotypes. Madjunkova concluded that long-read sequencing can provide access to rapid results and screening.
