We are pleased to announce a new subgroup within the PP AWG @PPawg focusing on nucleic acid extraction from extremely low biomass environments and mitigation of sequencing noise from the generated data. This group is led by @stefan_green, @Stighe, @cdavis, and @Haley_Sapers. Through this group, we hope to accomplish or address the following:
- Characterization and comparisons of various kit-omes for improved extraction efficiency and minimal contamination of low-biomass samples.
- Development of quantitative contamination checkpoints within extraction and sequencing processing steps. Specifically, the inclusion of contamination controls and optimized protocols for handling background noise reduction.
- Establish and centralize quantitative whole-cell reference standards specific to planetary protection.
Meetings will be held on the third Thursday of each month beginning on July 16th, 2026. Please sign up on the Google Form ( PP AWG - Nucleic Acid Extraction Sub-Group Sign-Up ) to be added to the email reminder list, or add the calendar event within the OSDR webpage for the meeting link. If you have any questions, you can reach out to any of the group leads or comment below.