COVID-19 COVID-19
Genomics research beyond COVID-19: embracing the new normal In the ‘new normal’ post-COVID-19 world, how can genomics labs be better prepared to respond quickly to the unexpected? How can they deliver reliable and insightful genetic sequencing results faster and more efficiently? What is the best way to scale up operations without being limited by benchtop tasks? In this article, Tecan talks to Dr Davide Scaglione, CTO of innovative NGS service provider IGATech, to get his perspective on how to embrace the new normal and put the latest genomics technologies to work to improve the health of humans, animals and the planet. Genetic sequence information is key to
application focuses are genotyping
service than they could get with a
cracking many of the world’s most
systems, de novo assembly techniques,
typical NGS service provider.
pressing problems. As Italy’s leading
and integration of customized
NGS service provider, IGATech has a
protocols with analytical pipelines.
growing reputation as an innovator in
Our company’s vision is to support our customers beyond simply providing
strategies for genotyping and advanced
What was the driving force behind the
sequencing capabilities. We take the
genomic research. The company has
creation of IGATech?
time to explore and understand their
sequenced the DNA of more than 250
Our company has its roots in the
final goals, select the best
types of organisms, and applied its expertise across diverse areas such as tracing food origin and safety, increasing the efficiency of plant and animal breeding, improving diagnostics and routine clinical care, and supporting sustainable development. Who better then to comment on the challenges of thriving in today’s demanding research environment? Davide Scaglione is Chief Technology Innovation Officer at IGATech. He is in charge of the development of new sequencing-based applications, bioinformatics operations and coordinating business activities. After a PhD in plant genetics at the University of Turin in collaboration with the University of Georgia, he spent a one-year postdoc at the Genome Center in Davis (California). He also worked as Head of Innovative Analytical Development at Merck KGaA, and has authored several scientific publications, mainly in plant genomics and bioinformatics. His major
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Institute of Applied Genomics (IGA) in Udine, which initially became renowned for its work in plant genetics, and has grown into a leading center of excellence for structural and functional genomics in living organisms. In 2009, the IGA established IGATech as an NGS service company, equipping it with the latest Illumina and third-generation sequencing platforms. Today, we are the number one provider of genomic research services in Italy. Our mission is to support academic and industrial research to help apply the power of genomics to address important
methodologies and bioinformatics strategies for their project, and help them implement solutions that will deliver robust answers to their questions. The added value is that the customer comes to us, explains what they want to achieve, and then they can trust us to provide the best solution for them. We are not trying to give them a one-size-fits-all paradigm. This really differentiates us from NGS service providers who take a more commoditized approach. Tell us more about the types of
biological questions, using whatever
solutions and services you provide.
organisms are most appropriate.
These can essentially be grouped into three main areas. The first is our core
How are you helping your customers
genomics research service, where we
solve today’s big challenges in
apply state-of-the-art sequencing and
genomics research?
bioinformatics methods to explore
Questions in genomics are, by nature,
genomic structure and function in
very complex, and it often takes a tailored approach to ensure robust and meaningful results. That means many of our customers need a more dedicated
many different contexts, from soil metagenomics to the transcriptomics or epigenetics of space-flight specimens. The second key focus is agri-genomics, where we apply
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TECAN JOURNAL 2/2021
