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