New platform for exposome analysis While it has long been known that our genetic background determines our susceptibility to a particular disease, the importance of the environment to individual health is increasingly widely recognised. Now that it is possible to sequence the human genome, scientists are looking to analyse our exposome in greater detail, a topic at the heart of Dr David J. Cocovi-Solberg’s research.
functions in a very small space. Commercial systems usually have 3 or 4 valves – if we can design a single valve that can perform the functions of 4, and put everything together in a single platform, then that will bring significant benefits,” he says. “I send these designs to VICI and they evaluate them. They are providing technical support with the designs, and are also making the prototypes.” The design of this technology is not simply about making an existing device smaller, as certain non-linear effects may emerge at smaller scales. If the valves are smaller then the tubes also have to be smaller, which has knock-on effects. “If the tubing is narrower then we need higher pressure and so have to re-design the pump. So there are many things to consider,” outlines Dr Cocovi-Solberg. So far two prototype systems have been developed; a paper has been submitted on the first, while Dr Cocovi-Solberg and his colleagues are currently assessing the second. “We are collecting the data that we need, looking at whether the valve functions properly and how complicated our system can be without external components. We intend to publish a paper within the next few months” he continues. “We are also still designing some other new prototypes. It takes a while to actually produce them.”
Prototypes Our individual health
is influenced by both our genetic background and the environment around us, which may leave us more susceptible to developing certain diseases. It is today possible to sequence the human genome, now researchers are developing methods to analyse the exposome, which can be broadly thought of as the environmental equivalent, our accumulated environmental exposures over the course of our lives. “The importance of the environment to our health is increasingly recognised. As scientists, we need a way to quantify the environment, and this is what exposomics is about,” explains Dr David J. Cocovi-Solberg, Senior Scientist at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU). As the Principal Investigator of a project backed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Dr CocoviSolberg is developing new stand-alone platforms for exposome analysis, placing a particular emphasis on miniaturisation. “This would help in terms of the portability of these platforms, which will be necessary to enable in situ analysis of environmental and clinical samples,” he says.
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Exposome The exposome is not just about water and soil but also other environmental samples as well, while the internal exposome, including an individual’s oxidative stress and metabolic factors, is also an important consideration. As an environmental chemist, Dr CocoviSolberg’s expertise lies in analysing water, soil and air samples, which is typically done using a technique called liquid chromatography
chromatography columns at very high flow rates to take advantage of extraordinary effects, and so the sample preparation is very fast. As the systems are small and portable, if we want to increase the analysis frequency, we can simply parallelise the system.” As part of his work Dr Cocovi-Solberg is collaborating closely with the VICI group, a fluidic component manufacturer. This work has its roots in Dr Cocovi-Solberg’s experience of
The importance of the environment to our health is increasingly recognised. As scientists, we need a way to quantify the environment, and this is what exposomics is about. mass spectrometry (LC-MS). “Currently LC-MS is applied to both environmental samples and to samples from the internal exposome,” he says. In some cases it can take quite a long time to prepare the different samples for analysis, which is an important issue in the project. “We are looking at miniaturising the sample preparation, using turbulent flow chromatography,” continues Dr Cocovi-Solberg. “We use our miniaturised
These different prototypes do not all have the same attributes, with researchers working to optimise different fields. The prototype that Dr Cocovi-Solberg is currently working on is designed to be integrated in a commercial HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) technology, but the next one beyond that will be different. “It will not resort to the HPLC pump, so it will work differently from the prototype that we have now,” he explains. At this stage different technologies are required for certain areas, like gas chromatography or taking samples from a bioreactor for example, but Dr Cocovi-Solberg Comprehensive testing of pump and valve prototypes prior to field analysis.
is working to develop a universal platform. “My hope is to propose a cheap platform, for portable analysis,” he stresses. “There are some portable LC systems available, but some are very heavy and so are difficult to take into remote areas, while others don’t enable you to conduct detailed analysis; none of them can currently perform the sample preparation.” The intention is to develop a unified platform that could then be made more widely available in future. This means not just in hospitals and clinics, but also public buildings and other locations, which could bring significant benefits. “If we have improved analysis capabilities, then for sure we will have better information and we can deal with emerging problems more effectively. We can take better decisions if we have more detailed information,” says Dr Cocovi-Solberg. A platform for a miniaturised and portable analysis system is in development, while there is also significant scope to improve detectors. “Currently the liquid chromatography is portable, but mass spectrometry technologies are still based in the lab. The portable detectors that we have are not well-suited for use with biological samples,” explains Dr Cocovi-Solberg. “We can measure some contaminants in the field, but we don’t have the resolution that we have with MS. So we are now working on a project application for miniaturising the detector.” This is a very active area of research, and Dr Cocovi-Solberg and his colleagues are very much open to new ideas that can be applied in development. Over the next few months researchers hope to publish several papers on miniaturisation and the possibilities of turbulent flow chromatography in terms of enabling faster sample preparation, while Dr Cocovi-Solberg also hopes to extend the collaboration with VICI. “My research is about microfluidics and miniaturisation, and my focus is likely to remain on these topics for the next few years,” he stresses.
Renewable turbulent flow chromatography for exposomics Project Objectives
It has long been known that our genes dictate our individual predisposition to a given disease, but the activation of those genes is strongly influenced by the environment. While it is now possible to sequence the human genome, it remains difficult to assess what environmental exposures an individual has experienced. In this project Dr Cocovi-Solberg and his colleagues are developing a system for exposome analysis. This system is designed to perform standalone chromatography, including sample reparation in a split of a second, while it is also simple and small enough to be portable (field analysis) and easily parallelizable.
Project Funding
Funded by the FWF Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Grant number: M 2579
Contact Details
Project Coordinator, Dr David J. Cocovi-Solberg Institute of Analytical Chemistry Muthgasse 18, 1190 Wien T: +43 1 47654 77109 E: david.cocovi-solberg(at)boku.ac.at W: https://app.dimensions.ai/details/grant/ grant.7914109 W: https://forschung.boku.ac.at/fis/suchen. person_uebersicht?sprache_in=en&menue_ id_in=101&id_in=146811grant.7914109
Dr David J. Cocovi-Solberg
Dr David J. Cocovi-Solberg is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, part of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. He previously studied at the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma, before moving to Vienna.
using relatively old equipment while studying for his PhD. “There were cables and tubes everywhere, and we saw that we could simplify it,” he explains. Subsequently Dr CocoviSolberg and his colleagues published a paper on a specific valve prototype that could work more effectively, now he is looking to build further on this research. “I’ve been looking at how we can design a new small and portable valve or pump, that will centralise many
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