Thanks to donor support, a vital new piece of equipment - the first of its kind in a public hospital in Ireland - has been funded to the Molecular Pathology Lab in Beaumont Hospital.

The Illumina MiSeq next generation DNA sequencer will allow our scientists to sequence 25 million DNA sequences overnight when previously they had to send samples to the UK and the USA for testing. It can all be done in-house resulting in great savings to the hospital, placing us at the fore front of diagnostic services and helping to improve patient care at Beaumont Hospital.

Patrick Buckley of the Molecular Biology Lab says, "Before now, our job could have been likened to searching an ocean of disease related genes with little more than a fishing rod. By contrast, having the MiSeq has radically improved our ability to fish for these genes. With this new technology we are in fact swopping the fishing rod of old and replacing it with a highly effective, catch-all, fishing trawler.

"We have been waiting a long time for the arrival of the new DNA sequencer and can't wait to get it into full operation. Thanks to Dr. Gianpiero Cavalleri, Epilepsy Research Group, RCSI the Haematology Department, Beaumont Hospital and the supporters of the Foundation for your financial support which has made it possible for us to invest in this wonderful piece of diagnostic equipment", he concluded.

Funded in 2014