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研究，农业工业、生物技术、制药、诊断和疾病治疗等生物工程领域也在发生类似的变化。伴随这些机遇而来的一个关键挑战是，科学家们要弄清楚他们现在可以轻松生成的大量数据的意义。30年来，BLAST分析算法一直是生物工程的基础，用于比较DNA或蛋白质序列。从历史上看，它通常以“谷歌搜索”类型的方式应用，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测序的分散化挑战了这种模式。我们开发了SequenceServer Cloud软件，使生物学家个人和团队能够对专有DNA和蛋白质序列数据进行BLAST分析。我们的软件具有直观的用户体验和先进的可视化功能，可加速农用工业、制药、生物技术、学术界和非营利部门的发现。我们将利用InnovateUK的资金创建两款新产品，以补充SequenceServer Cloud的现有功能。这些新产品将使在生物工程领域工作的科学家和技术人员能够工作并提高生产力，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.