Transforming SequenceServer: unlocking new revenue opportunities by incorporating collaborative tools and molecular cloning capabilities

DNA测序的商品化和分散化彻底改变了生物学研究，农业工业、生物技术、制药、诊断和疾病治疗等领域的生物工程也正在发生类似的变化。伴随着由此产生的机会而来的一个关键挑战是，工作人员科学家如何理解他们现在可以轻松生成的惊人数量的数据。BLAST分析算法30年来一直是生物工程的基础--它用于比较DNA或蛋白质序列。从历史上看，它通常以“谷歌搜索”式的方式应用，即科学家使用由美国国立卫生研究院资助的中央服务器查询公共数据库。DNA测序的分散化对这种模式提出了挑战。我们开发了SequenceServerCloud，这是一款使个人和生物学家团队能够对专有DNA和蛋白质序列数据进行BLAST分析的软件。我们软件的直观用户体验和先进的可视化能力加速了农业工业、制药、生物技术、学术界和非营利部门的发现。我们将利用InnovateUK的资金来创建两种新产品，以补充SequenceServer Cloud的现有功能。这些新产品将使生物工程领域的科学家和技术人员能够开展工作并提高生产率，包括分子诊断、改进农业实践和合成生物学。

The commoditisation and decentralisation of DNA sequencing has completely changed biological research, with similar changes underway in biological engineering across agroindustry, biotech, pharma, diagnostics and treatment of disease. A key challenge that accompanies the resulting opportunities is for staff scientists to make sense of the spectacular amounts of data that they can now easily generate.The BLAST analysis algorithm has been foundational to biological engineering since 30 years -- it is used for comparing DNA or protein sequences. Historically, it has typically been applied in a "google search"-type manner where scientists query a public database using a central server funded by the US National Institutes of health. The decentralisation of DNA sequencing challenges this model.We developed SequenceServer Cloud, a software that enables individuals and teams of biologists to perform BLAST analysis of proprietary DNA and protein-sequence data. Our software's intuitive user experience and advanced visualisation capabilities accelerate discovery across agroindustry, pharma, biotech, academia and non-profit sectors.We will use InnovateUK funding to create two new products that complement SequenceServer Cloud's existing functionality. These new products will enable work and increase productivity of scientists and technicians working across biological engineering areas, including for molecular diagnostics, improving agricultural practices, and synthetic biology.