This means that from now on researchers will be able to conduct multiple DNA sequencing techniques on a single platform, a desktop device that will enable an easier, faster and cheaper analysis of the genetic material that is fundamental to exploring the cell structure and functions and decoding "secrets of life".
The Illumina NextSeq 500 desktop NGS System, worth HRK 1.5 million (EUR 230,769), appeared on the market only last year, and the IRB acquired it within an EU project called InnoMol.
The device and the project were presented at a seminar held at the IRB on Thursday.
The device is used to determine any DNA sequence in all organisms that have DNA - from viruses to animals - and its advantage is that it can do DNA sequencing of the human genome within 24 hours, the head of the IRB Group for Translational Medicine and InnoMol project coordinator, Oliver Vugrek, told Hina.
The device can process 96 samples a day, namely decipher up to 7,000 samples a year.
More specifically, this means that it can generate a huge body of data and enable work on experiments which have not been possible so far, said Vugrek.
The device can be used for many purposes, one of them being the analysis of the human genome to determine a patient's genetic predispositions to certain types of cancer therapy.
"Smart medicines are effective only if you have a certain genetic predisposition - if you don't, such a therapy is ineffective," said Vugrek.
He added that determining a patient's genetic predisposition cost 300-500 euros and that the difference between that price and the price of an average chemotherapy, which costs HRK 50,000 to 150,000, was the money saved owing to that device.
Except for healthcare purposes, the device will also be used for research purposes.
The InnoMol project is the IRB's infrastructure project with the biggest budget in the field of natural sciences. Worth close to 4.8 million euros, it is designed to establish a modern research infrastructure in terms of personnel and equipment. It is being implemented within the REGPOT scheme of the EU's 7th Framework Programme (FP7).
Over the past year and a half of this three and a half year long project, the IRB has acquired sophisticated research equipment worth nine million kuna (approx. EUR 1,178,000).