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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Sequencing and Genomics

Library preparation

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In genetics & biotechnology, library preparation means: The steps that turn a DNA or RNA sample into a form a sequencer can read, usually by breaking it into fragments and attaching short adapter sequences.

In Turkish: kütüphane hazırlama, kütüphane hazırlığı

How it is used

Used in every NGS project and usually shortened to 'library prep' in speech. Steps include fragmentation, end repair, adapter ligation, indexing (barcoding) and PCR. Researchers check library quality and size before pooling samples for a sequencing run.

Example sentences

  1. Library preparation for 96 samples takes about two days.

  2. The low read count was probably caused by poor library preparation.

Common collocations

  • library preparation kit
  • library prep
  • sequencing library
  • library quality control
  • adapter ligation
  • next-generation sequencingModern technologies that read millions or billions of DNA fragments in parallel, making it fast and cheap to sequence whole genomes, exomes or many genes at once.
  • readIn sequencing, a single DNA sequence that the machine produces from one fragment. A sequencing run produces millions of reads.
  • sequencingAny method that works out the exact order of bases (A, T, G and C) in a piece of DNA or RNA.
  • PCRPolymerase chain reaction: a lab method that makes millions of copies of a chosen DNA region by repeating cycles of heating and cooling with primers and a DNA polymerase.

More terms: Sequencing and Genomics

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