All glossary terms

NGS basics

Adapters

Adapters are short synthetic DNA molecules of known sequence that are ligated to the ends of DNA or RNA fragments during library prep.

What are adapters in NGS?

They give the sequencer a common handle to bind and prime from, which is why fragments without them are invisible to the instrument. Adapters left unligated are also the raw material for adapter dimers.

Sequencing

Sequencing is the process of reading the nucleotide order (A, T, C, G) of DNA or RNA fragments.

RNA Integrity Number (RIN)

The RNA Integrity Number (RIN) is a numerical score, from 1 to 10, used to rate the quality of an RNA sample.

Read Depth

Read depth is the total number of individual sequence reads generated for a given sample or region.

Primers

Primers are short single-stranded sequences that bind a DNA template and act as the starting point for DNA synthesis.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique that copies a specific DNA sequence exponentially through repeated temperature cycles.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Next generation sequencing (NGS) is a high-throughput technology that reads millions of DNA or RNA fragments in parallel.