FAQs
Registration and crediting logistics
For security purposes, registering in our portal requires manual review which will occur within 24 hours and during Eastern Time Zone business hours.
You can purchase credits directly from the Biotia User Portal. Please see our Purchasing Credits page for instructions. If you are a Twist customer, credits are included with purchase of a Twist Kit.
You can purchase credits by contacting us, or if you are a Twist customer, the software comes with your kit. Your credits are linked to your serial number (or Q-number for Twist customers). To use the credits you enter your number in the Serial number field.
While registering, the form forced me to put in a “state” but I am not in the US.
How long are my credits good for?
Please email the Q-number from your invoice to customerservice@biotia.io letting us know your serial number hasn’t been activated yet and we will promptly activate.
Please see the SARS-CoV-2 NGS protocol on Page 30.
For the Twist kit it is the Q-number that came with the kit.
Currently the software only accepts single end reads. If you have paired-end read data and would still like to use our software, please just upload one of the read pairs.
Submissions and uploads
We recommend you use the following controls in the protocol, although they are not required if the test is run as research use only. These controls are required for the SARS-CoV-2 NGS assay authorized by the FDA.
NTC (negative template control): VTM or water
NEC: VERO-6 spiked into VTM
PC (positive control): Twist synthetic control
IC (internal control): Agilent Gene Expression Universal Reference RNA (Human)
We recommend you have all controls during the run and submission, however our software will let the samples be processed without any controls
All patient samples should be labeled as TEST SAMPLE
Please refer to the SARS-CoV-2 NGS protocol for further information. On Page 37, the protocol describes the CONTROLS.
Four FASTQ files are only required for the FDA authorized version of the test, but any number of FASTQ files are allowed for the research-use only version of the assay. For the FDA, this test has been optimized for the Illumina NextSeq sequencer, which generates four FASTQ files for each sample (one FASTQ per lane after demultiplexing). For the research-use only version of the software we do allow users to upload one or more FASTQ files per sample, for example for customers using a MiSeq, which only generates one FASTQ/sample.
Often multiple FASTQ files are generated because samples are run across multiple lanes. One FASTQ file is the minimum number of files we require for upload, and we have no maximum number. For filling out the submission form, if you have multiple FASTQs per sample, please include only one FASTQ per row and use the same sample ID for all FASTQs linked to that sample.
Please cancel your order and submit again under the correct test type.
Possible reason 1: The names of the FASTQs that you uploaded differ from the names in the submission form spreadsheet. Note, the names need to agree even with dashes and underscores. For example: 4_S4-L001_R4_001.fastq.gz is not the same as 4_S4_L001_R4_001.fastq.gz given that there is a dash in the first name.
Possible reason 2: Please double check that you have uploaded all of the FASTQ files
Possible reason 3: Please confirm that you have not uploaded FASTQ files that are not in the spreadsheet— FASTQ not included in the spreadsheet cannot be uploaded.
The submission form may be formatted incorrectly. Please double check the formatting and try uploading again.
The cells on the spreadsheet that may be causing the error will be highlighted in pink.
Please make sure you are:
- Not using the top example line as a sample (this should be left as the example sample)
- Are filling in data in the required fields
- Are listing only one FASTQ per row -- for multiple FASTQ per sample, put each FASTQ on its own line with the same sample ID
If the problem persists please contact us at customersupport@biotia.io for further assistance
Yes we have a bulk upload option through our API. Please find instructions here.
Checksum or SHA256 checksum is a short string that lets us verify that a file uploaded properly. If any of the data in an uploaded file is changed or corrupted from the original file, the new checksum will be different.
The checksum is not required in the submission form for the research use only version of the software, however it is required for the FDA EUA version of the software.
You can use command line to find this or use an online tool such as this.
Four FASTQ files are only required for the FDA authorized version of the test, but any number of FASTQ files are allowed for the research-use only version of the assay. For the FDA, this test has been optimized for the Illumina NextSeq sequencer, which generates four FASTQ files for each sample (one FASTQ per lane after demultiplexing). For the research-use only version of the software we do allow users to upload one or more FASTQ files per sample, for example for customers using a MiSeq, which only generates one FASTQ/sample.
Results
The time it takes for your samples to be processed will depend on how many samples you have uploaded. For large/bulk uploads, it may take up to 12 hours to see your results, but for smaller orders it can be as fast as 1-2 hours.
You will receive an email update when your data has been processed and a report has been generated. When you navigate to your order on the portal, you will be able to download your report.
We generate both individual sample reports and a summary excel for each batch of samples you submit for analysis. To download the batch summary click into the order and click on the red button “download summary”.
It is likely due to the sample not passing an internal human control threshold. For our FDA authorization we added a step to ensure the sample was collected from the patient correctly. If we find too few human reads in the sample, it indicates a clinical samples was likely collected incorrectly, and the sample is marked invalid. If you are using the software for research and still would like results on the invalid sample please email customer support at customersupport@biotia.io.