Apollo Genetics Lab

About Apollo Genetics

America's Choice for Genetic Testing

Located in Baton Rouge, LA and part of Apollo Lab Group, Apollo Genetics is one of only a few labs that can perform next generation genetic testing. Our genetics lab is licensed in 49 states for accepting new patients. We accept patients from reference labs, physician referrals, and personal inquiries. Talk with us or your primary care physician about receiving your genetic testing through Apollo Genetics. Out of pocket and insurance plans are both accepted.

“When I developed my cancer 20 years ago, I could not wrap my head around how I developed it until my doctor mentioned that I get this test done. I was elated when I finally received the test results and they determined that it couldn’t possibly be genetic, now my daughters don’t have to worry and I also don’t have to worry as much about it coming back. It puts my mind at ease big time, I was very impressed.” -Carla K.

CLIA certified and CAP Accredited

Apollo Genetics is a CLIA Certified and CAP Accredited laboratory that specializes in next generation genome sequencing. Being CAP Accredited allows us to apply the best emerging practices and apply them to improve laboratory performance in every area. In order to receive CAP accreditation, a laboratory must demonstrate that it operates with the highest standards of quality, accuracy, and consistency. More importantly, being CLIA Certified and CAP Accredited ensures your testing and screening results meet and exceed industry standards.

Dr. Jason Walker PhD, HCLD, Lab Director

Jason Walker received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge in 1996. He began his research career at LSU using emerging genetics techniques to study cell-development and replication in plants. His discoveries led to the identification of a new family of genes important for plant-cell development. In 2002 he entered the graduate program at Yale University’s Department of Genetics, where he was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. His thesis research investigated viral pathogenesis in humans, and his PhD was awarded in 2008.

Currently, Dr. Walker is proud to be a laboratory director for Apollo Genetics, a CLIA lab located in the LSU-Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge where Dr. Walker also teaches as an adjunct professor. Apollo Genetics provides high quality genetic testing services to the medical community and is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Apollo Genetics Lab Technology

State of the art genetic testing technology

Apollo Genetics uses the next generation Ion Torrent™ Genexus™ System for every and all genetic samples brought to the lab. Capable of delivering same day results from initial biological specimen to testing report the Ion Torrent™ Genexus™ System works fast to help Apollo provide relevant and up to date results to patients and providers. This system includes;

- The Ion AmpliSeq™ On-Demand Panels for customizable and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) with pretested genes for research on germline diseases such as hereditary cancer. Ion AmpliSeq™ technology enables identification of known variants and discovery of novel variants through accurate and automated variant calling that helps eliminate bias when characterizing molecular markers.

- The Ion Torrent™ Genexus™ Integrated Sequencer to automate NGS library preparation, sequencing, and analysis for the genetic samples. Increasing productivity so our laboratory technicians can spend more time analyzing and interpreting results

- The Ion Torrent™ GX5 Chip designed with four lanes to support variability in sample intake, so we can process one to four at once, which means we don't need specific batch sizes in order to start testing genetic samples. The GX5 chip can also multiplex up to 32 single-pool libraries per run in case we have an overflow of samples in our lab.

Why do we trust it?

Collaboration with two genetic service providers resulted in identification of single-nucleotide variants from two different hereditary cancers using the Ion AmpliSeq On-Demand Panels run on the Ion GeneStudio S5 System and the Genexus Integrated Sequencer, which showed highly concordant (>95%) data.
For SNPs, sensitivity of >95% and PPV of >94% were observed
For SNPs and indels combined, sensitivity of >91% and PPV of >92% were observed

* Clinical research samples (n = 5) obtained from a genetic service provider were analyzed in a blind study

About Apollo Genetics

Dr. Jason Walker PhD, HCLD, Lab Director

Apollo Genetics Lab Technology

Learn more about our genetic lab services. Call us today (855) 553-9988 or request a free brochure.