Services | BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute

Sample forms and guidelines

Download sample submission form and guidelines.
Download mailing label for sample shipment.
Fill out project intake form for bioinformatics analysis service.
Fill out the submission form to submit samples for mycoplasma testing.

General services

Consultation and study design

Consultation service for the design and implementation of human and animal gut microbiome studies – assistance with budgeting, ethics and grant applications
Sample preparation and quality control tests
Optimal sample collection – fecal collection kits

Storage of clinical specimens prior to study

Fecal sample, mucosal wash, swab, and biopsy storage (-80 °C)
Maintenance of sample inventory
Sample processing/aliquoting of liquids, body fluids and fecal specimens
Microbial cultivation and freezing of bacterial isolates
Post-study long-term storage of samples after study conclusion, please inquire

Nucleic acid isolation and quantification

High-throughput genomic DNA extraction with MagMAX™ Microbiome Ultra Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit (Thermo cat# A42358) on the Kingfisher DUO Prime. Self-serve available.
Quantification of nucleic acids with Qubit™, Quant-iT™ PicoGreen™ dsDNA Assay Kit and Nanodrop

Robotic sample normalization and hit picking

DNA concentration normalization on a 96-well plate format can be easily achieved with accuracy. This includes hit picking samples in plate formats.

Next generation sequencing

16S rRNA library prep and sequencing
Shotgun metagenomic sequencing
ITS library prep and sequencing
Community pooling for smaller quantity submissions available, please inquire

Anaerobic culturing

Bacterial culturing under strict anaerobic conditions within the A35 Don Whitley Anaerobic chamber. Self-serve available.

Targeted metabolomics

Absolute quantification of short-chain fatty acids, metabolites and bile acids, partnered with the Analytical Core for Metabolomics and Nutrition (ACMaN) at BCCHR.
High Pressure liquid chromatography and quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF) analysis of samples. Additionally, they are analyzed in a focused approach with reverse phase (RP) chromatography for hydrophilic compounds and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HILIC) for hydrophobic compounds in both positive and negative ion mass spectrometry.

Untargeted metabolomics

Ultra-high-throughput untargeted metabolomics, partnered with General Metabolics (GMet).
Rapid turnaround time of ~2 weeks, providing interactive data analysis and visualization tools to speed biological insight.
Gut4Health customers receive preferred pricing, high touch customer service, support in study design and interpretation.
For additional information, see the GMet fact sheet or contact info@GeneralMetabolics.com or gut4health@bcchr.ca for consultation.

Targeted microbiome enumeration

Quantifying microbial DNA sequences using droplet digital PCR instruments

In vitro and in vivo assays related to microbiome investigation

Data analysis and bioinformatics

Standardized basic 16S rRNA sequencing analysis
Advanced bioinformatics analyses available by request

Mycoplasma testing

PCR-based testing of the presence of mycoplasma contamination from cell culture supernatant

Organ-on-a-chip experiments using the Emulate System

Colon Intestine-Chip technology as a pre-clinical model to test several dynamic conditions and experimental stimuli

Self-serve instruments

All self-serve instruments require prior training. Please contact gut4health@bcchr.ca for more details about training schedules.

After necessary training completion: BCCHR users please book reserve time on Calpendo. Non-BCCHR users request time slots by contacting gut4health@bcchr.ca.

A35 Don Whitley anaerobic chamber

The anaerobic chamber allows for sample handling within strict anaerobic conditions held at 37°C. Media reduction and bacteria culturing can be completed within this chamber.

Bio-Rad QX200 automated droplet digital PCR

Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a highly sensitive PCR method utilizing properties of water-in-oil emulsion of samples to encapsulate single template nucleic acids into individual droplets. This technique would result in absolute quantification of targeted nucleic acid sequences, without relying on a standard curve as with qPCR. Applications include gene expression and detection of rare mutation events.

Project-specific training on ddPCR is available upon request and will be held on-site. Please contact gut4health@bcchr.ca for more details of the upcoming training sessions. Training session includes applicational use of the instrument presented by a Bio-Rad representative. For more information about ddPCR and its applications, visit Bio-Rad.

VirTis Advantage Lyophilizer

Programmable lyophilizer with temperatures from -70°C to 60°C. Capacity: 420 2mL, 168 5mL, 138 10mL, 87 20mL, 47 50mL, 32 100mL vials. Contact and consult with Gut4Health for custom programs and vial sizes.

Kingfisher DUO Prime

Kingfisher DUO Prime assists in DNA/RNA extraction magnetic bead-based strategies, shortening hands-on processing time. DNA extractions with the MagMAX™ Microbiome Ultra Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit (Thermo cat# A42358) is used for microbiome DNA extractions in Gut4Health. Other extraction kits that also incorporate magnetic bead-based methods may be used with this instrument. Please contact Shaunda Brouns or Holly Hilborn at ThermoFisher Scientific for additional information.

Service requests and fees

Service fees

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