A Comparison, Evaluation and Accuracy Assessment of the Fluidigm (TM) Platform in Genotyping Common and Rare variants in an Alaska Native Population

Abstract

<underline>A Comparison, Evaluation and Accuracy Assessment of the Fluidigm <super>(TM)</super> Platform in Genotyping Common and Rare variants in an Alaska Native Population</underline> by Joseph Yracheta Pharmacogenomics is a new and related addition to the battle in combatting health disparity. In American Indian and Alaska Native populations this battle comes with many practical, legal and bioethical constraints. The selection of study design, a tribal consultation process & partnership and genomic technology is crucial to avoid the bioethical missteps of the past. Here, we evaluate the Fluidigm platform in its performance against other genotyping platforms and its performance in the tribal consultation process. Fluidigm demonstrated comparable accuracy and reliability characteristics with other platforms and was superior in terms of flexibility, cost and assay time. These last three characteristics makes it more amenable for tribal consultation and approval processes.