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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Rare Event Detection Using Error-corrected DNA and RNA Sequencing
Published on: August 3, 2018
High-throughput sequencing: a failure mode analysis
George S Yang1, Jeffery M Stott, Duane Smailus
1Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer Research Centre, Suite 100, 570 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada. gyang@bcgsc.ca
Background:
Basic manufacturing principles are becoming increasingly important in high-throughput sequencing facilities where there is a constant drive to increase quality, increase efficiency, and decrease operating costs. While high-throughput centres report failure rates typically on the order of 10%, the causes of sporadic sequencing failures are seldom analyzed in detail and have not, in the past, been formally reported.
Results:
Here we report the results of a failure mode analysis of our production sequencing facility based on detailed evaluation of 9,216 ESTs generated from two cDNA libraries. Two categories of failures are described; process-related failures (failures due to equipment or sample handling) and template-related failures (failures that are revealed by close inspection of electropherograms and are likely due to properties of the template DNA sequence itself).
Conclusions:
Preventative action based on a detailed understanding of failure modes is likely to improve the performance of other production sequencing pipelines.
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