ISO accreditation for AGRF next-gen sequencing

The Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) - a not-for-profit organisation assisting Australia’s access to the latest genomic technologies - has received ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for Illumina-based sequencing services in its next-generation sequencing lab.

Awarded by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA), the scope of accreditation includes a broad NGS portfolio covering RNA and DNA library preparation, exome and custom capture enrichments, and includes HiSeq/MiSeq sequencing with data production and QC pipelines. It is said to represent the first biological testing level accreditation of such a broad portfolio of NGS methods in Australia.

AGRF has previously gained ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for Sanger sequencing, genotyping, gene expression and identification services. The company’s CEO, Sue Forrest, said the latest accreditation “represents another step in enabling AGRF to address the burgeoning clinical genomics market”.

“Now AGRF can supply quality-accredited data from clinical samples to any accredited molecular diagnostics interpretation/reporting pipeline,” Forrest continued. “This enables us to engage new partnering opportunities.”