Tips and tricks for the isolation and analysis of RNA from microbial samples

RNA isolation and analysis from microbial samples can be challenging, especially while working with tricky samples such as soil and stool. Optimizing your microbiome workflow by identifying and tackling common challenges can help improve reproducibility while simplifying your lab routine.

This webinar describes the critical factors for RNA extraction from challenging microbiome samples. The webinar also includes ways to minimize bias from lysis, tackling PCR inhibitors and the current best practices for library preparation and data analysis.

About the speaker

Julie Sean, Senior Global Product Manager, Sample technologies

QIAGEN

Julie Sean obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Université Paris-Sud, France, focusing on microbiology and molecular biology. Then she graduated with a dual skills Master’s in Management and Biotechnology. She worked on industrial adhesives at Henkel for 4 years before joining QIAGEN in 2018. Currently, she is the global product manager for sample disruption and microbiome sample preparation.

Helena Block, Scientist, Microbiome product development

QIAGEN

Helena Block is an R&D scientist working on microbiome product development at QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany. She studied Bioengineering at the University of Applied Sciences FH Aachen (Germany). She joined QIAGEN in 2005 where she has been involved in development of products for purification of recombinant proteins and sample preparation. Starting in 2015, she focused on microbiome extraction and associated workflows.

Domenic O’Neil, Director, Microbiome product development

QIAGEN

Dominic O’Neil has over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, including three years at the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research in Cambridge, MA, where he participated in the initial draft of the human genome. Dominic joined Digene (later part of QIAGEN) in 2004 to work on new technology R&D, focusing on sample preparation and diagnostic applications. In 2011, he joined the QIAGEN R&D group in Hilden to work on solutions for next-generation sequencing. Starting in 2015, he focused on microbiome extraction and associated workflows, and now leads the R&D group as Director for Microbiome Product Development.