NIEHS Genomics Day 2026

Liquid biopsy for profiling of cell free DNA (cfDNA) in blood holds huge promise to transform how we experience and manage cancer by early detection and identification of residual disease and subtype. However, a standard blood draw yields an average of only 10 ng of cfDNA, of which DNA derived from the tumour is a small minority.

Genetic and methylation data together have been shown to be more powerful for the detection of early cancer than either alone. Constrained to measuring four states of information, existing NGS-based technologies sacrifice genetic information for methylation calling.

duet multiomics solution evoC is a new sequencing technology that simultaneously derives all four genetic bases without ambiguity in C or T calls alongside distinguishing 5‑methylcytosine and 5‑hydroxymethylcytosine (6-base data) in a single read from a single DNA molecule. The technology consists of pre-sequencing library prep and post-sequencing analysis pipeline, providing single-base resolution of genetics and epigenetics at high accuracy.