Self-Run Sequencing

Each lab in Life Sciences may designate one member to become a “power user” of the Sequencing Facility. Power users are trained by our staff to independently run their plates on our sequencers. For information about our instruments, please see Instrumentation Overview.

To schedule a training session, please contact Christian Daly (cdaly@cgr.harvard.edu). We charge a training fee of $220 per session. We will ask you for a 33-digit code that will be used to charge both the training fee and your subsequent usage fees (two different codes may be used). Please ask your PI or lab administrator for the appropriate code.

Once trained, power users are given an account that allows them to reserve time on the instruments and log in to the computers that control them. To access the web signup page to reserve time, click here: https://webapps.sciences.fas.harvard.edu/spinal/ .

We allow reservations in one-hour time blocks. A typical run takes two hours, but longer runs may take up to four. You must also record how many samples you will run during your scheduled time so that we can correctly charge your account. You must run full plates on the 3730xl instruments, but you may run partial plates in multiples of 16 samples on the 3130xl instruments. You may cancel a reservation up to two hours before the scheduled start time. After that, the scheduled run will be charged to your account.

We charge a fee to recover the cost of reagents and instrument maintenance. The cost is $75 per plate on the 3730xl or $12.50 per 16-sample slot on the 3130xl.

Data Retrieval

Sequence data from each sample are in a proprietary-format file containing a four-color electropherogram. The files also contain various information regarding the strength of the signal, sequence data in text format, etc.

Once your samples have run, please come back to retrieve your data. You may transfer your data using our temporary server space on \\lsdivfs2\data. To do this, go to Start, Run, and type \\lsdivfs2\data. You may create a new folder for yourself if you don’t already have one. Copy your data into this folder. You may save up to 2.5G of data for up to 30 days. Data older than 30 days is automatically deleted.

Getting your files from the server:

This method can only be used from a computer in Biolabs, Fairchild, or Bauer.

PC:
Go to Start, Run and type \\lsdivfs2\data.
Drag your files from this folder to your local drive
Verify that the local copies of the files are readable.

Mac:

This only works for OS X 10.3.9 and above.
Hit Apple-K, then enter: smb://lsdivfs2/data.
Scroll for your folder.
A server volume icon with Microsoft’s logo should appear on your desktop.
Double-click to open it, and drag your sequencing files to your local drive
Verify that the local copies of the files are readable

Getting your files by HTTPS or FTPS:

This method can be used from any computer with an internet connection.
You will need to use your Active Directory (CGR, CCB, OEB or MCB) username and password to authenticate.

HTTPS:

Point your web browser to https://data.rc.fas.harvard.edu /data.
Log in using the format domain\username and your password.
Open your subfolder and click on files to open or save them.
This will only allow you to open/save a single file at a time.

FTPS:

Use an FTP client such as Filezilla (freeware).
In the "Host" field, enter ftps://data.rc.fas.harvard.edu/data.
Enter your username and password in the proper fields.
Click "Quickconnect".
Browse for your data in the dna folder in the lower right field.
Browse for the desired destination on your computer in the lower left field.
Drag files from the right hand field to the left hand field to copy them from the data folder to your computer.