Donating your Genetic Code
The 12th of April was a very exciting day for Lifebit. As part of our commitment to transforming genomic data analysis, we are proud supporters of the GenoME mobile app, developed by the Personal Genome Project (PGP) UK.
In fact, we sponsored the sequencing of one human genome — more about this below!
Our London team had the privilege of attending the GenoME launch event in the magnificent Wilkins Building at University College London. It was a fantastic, memorable occasion. Uniquely for a scientific event, the results were presented by four Project Ambassadors who had donated their genome for sequencing, including Professor Stephan Beck, the Director of the Project. Professor Beck also gave an introductory overview, explaining the idea behind the project, the principle of democratising the analysis of the human genome and the enormous benefits we can derive from it as a shared resource.
The scientific part was followed by a music performance of an equally unique kind. The Benyounes Quartet played two pieces composed by Deirdre Gribbin. The composition was derived from the Ambassadors’ genome sequences by converting the four bases to notes using a transformation invented by Deirdre. Absolutely amazing. Deirdre gave a personal touch to the concert when she mentioned that her son’s Down’s syndrome inspired her interest in genomics, becoming a resident artist at the MRC LMB in Cambridge, where the DNA structure was discovered in 1953.
And now, to the (scientific) fun bit. The last part of the event was a raffle with a very special prize. Each participant was given a number coupon at the entrance, with five lucky winners to have their genome sequenced and published by the PGP. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Lifebit is proud to cover the sequencing cost for one of the five genomes.
During the reception that followed we got the chance to chat (over delicious canapes and plenty of Prosecco) with participants and discuss various aspects of human genome sequencing and its countless implications.
The advances in algorithm development, hardware performance and networking have opened up tremendous new possibilities for bioinformatics. If genome research is to benefit from this progress we must ensure that scientists can focus on analysing the data and sharing the results instead of dealing with incompatible formats, proprietary setups and the like.
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At Lifebit we strive to facilitate the analysis of genomic data by removing the cumbersome and unnecessary layers of complexity that beset computational biology. Simplicity, reproducibility and openness are at the core of our technology development — a work driven by the scientists we have the privilege to collaborate with.
