Dear all, 

I have received many emails with suggestions and recommendations
regarding my question about outsourcing DNA amplification and sequencing
and wish to thank everyone who has been so kind to reply to my request! 

Please find below a summary of the suggestions and recommendations: 

Many people pointed out that the 'Korea' option implies using services
offered by Macrogen (www.macrogen.com) that currently also has an office
in The Netherlands. Their sequencing services are highly recommended by
most, and are cheap (5-7 USD per sample) but they don't offer PCR
amplification. 

Another recommendation is Functional Biosciences Inc in Wisconsin, USA
(http://www.functionalbio.com) that offers pcr amplification and direct
sequencing plates of DNA for 5-600 USD. 

A recommended European option is Genoscreen from France
(http://www.genoscreen.fr/index_eng.htm) who can do various things,
including tailor-made analyses. 

The Nevada Genomics Centre in the USA (http://www.ag.unr.edu/genomics/)
offers various services including extraction, amplification and
sequencing and are recommended for their responsiveness and fast work. 

I also received several kind emails directly from labs offering PCR
amplification and sequencing services: 
Genetic Marker Services (http://geneticmarkerservices.com/) from the UK
Central Analytical Facility at Stellenbosch University in South Africa
(http://academic.sun.ac.za/saf/) 
Georgia Genomics Facility in the USA (http://dna.uga.edu/)
Fragment Analysis & DNA Sequencing Services (FADSS) in British Columbia,
Canada
(http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/ikbarberschool/research/analytical/fadss.htm
l)

I hope the above list is of help for people considering outsourcing
their labwork, and does not qualify as advertising (I am sure there are
many more companies out there). 

All the best, 

Robin

Robin van Velzen
PhD student
Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis (section NHN)
Biosystematics Group 
Wageningen University

Wageningen Campus, Radix building 107, Room W4.Aa.095
Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands
PO Box 647, 6700 AP Wageningen, The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)317 483425
http://www.bis.wur.nl

-----my original post-----

Dear EvolDir list members, 
For my PhD project, I wish to generate DNA sequence data for
phylogenetic analysis of an Afrotropical butterfly genus (Cymothoe).
Unfortunately, time does not allow me to generate all the data myself.
Therefore, I am considering outsourcing the amplification and sequencing
of 3-5 nuclear regions for about 30-50 specimens. 
I have heard of possibilities for outsourcing sequencing in Korea. But I
have no idea about pricing and whether it is also possible to outsource
amplification. 
Does anyone have experience with outsourcing this kind of labwork? I'd
be very interested in any experiences (good or bad), price indications
and/or recommendations you may have. 
Thanks in advance! 
Robin

Robin.vanVelzen@wur.nl