News

By the Bioscience Core Lab team and Caitlin Clark

 

The KAUST Bioscience Core Lab (BCL) had an eventful 2019, organizing several scientific seminars in the fields of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics data analysis, which has become a platform for collaboration with in-Kingdom and international organizations.

 

Mind the genes: KAUST and Saudi scientists discuss genomics development

 

In April 2019, a two-day Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) seminar took place that was jointly organized by BCL and King Abdulaziz University (KAU).

 

The meeting brought together experts in the region who work in genomics and genetics and promoted KAUST activities in NGS. Speakers from KAUST, KAU, National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) and Illumina delivered stimulating and thought-provoking talks.

 

Pui-Yan Kwok, Henry Bachrach distinguished professor at UCSF and a distinguished research fellow and director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, delivered the event’s keynote address.

 

Over 200 people registered for the event, and through it, several collaborations were initiated that are currently underway. The seminar was highly appreciated, as it was the first event bringing together regional scientists with the aim of addressing relevant clinical issues and food and environmental challenges.

 

The talks at KAU focused on genetic screening and diseases in the Saudi population. KAU professors and experts from NGHA in Riyadh highlighted the importance of screening for kinship-related genetic disorders and communicating information about these areas to the general population.

 

The talks presented at KAUST spanned different topics in the genomics field, ranging from human research to plants and microbes. KAUST speakers presented their latest work, and participants networked with the leading players in the region, boosting interactions and generating collaborations.

 

“The seminar highlighted the diversity and high standard of genomic research done at KAUST and in the Kingdom,” stated Simon Krattinger, KAUST assistant professor of plant science. “Genomics is a technology-driven discipline, and it is great to see that KAUST keeps investing in the latest cutting-edge sequencing platforms. This will allow us to perform world-leading genomics-based research in various fields, including agriculture, health and conservation ecology.”

 

 

The Third Sequencing Revolution: PacBio day at KAUST

 

Following the success of the NGS seminar, BCL organized a “Morning of SMRT Science” in November 2019 that focused on PacBio long-read sequencing. BCL’s Third Generation Sequencing (TGS) team, KAUST researchers and PacBio scientists spoke about how they are pushing the technological boundaries in sequencing long reads with high consensus accuracy.

 

The extremely popular event drew KAUST faculty, scientists, postdoctoral fellows and students to learn about the latest work from BCL teams and projects from the faculty that use long-read sequencing. PacBio scientists introduced high fidelity (HiFi) sequencing with the latest PacBio sequencer, the Sequel II, placing KAUST as the only facility in the Middle East with the instrument. The first HiFi results from the TGS team, which were presented at the seminar, were exceptional and bode well for future work.

 

During the event, BCL announced it had attained the prestigious status of a PacBio Certified Service Provider (CSP), and it is the first and only CSP in the Middle East region.

 

John Beaten, the leading PacBio representative; field application senior scientist EMEA, noted to attendees that the company is extremely selective in awarding the certificates. Certification is the result of a long process of building trust in the expertise and professional skills of BCL staff and the team lead, Luca Ermini.

 

The impacts of becoming a CSP are many and far-reaching for KAUST. The CSP is recognition that the Core Labs is a world leader in long-read sequencing, and it is one of only a limited number of accredited CSP labs globally. The certification also allows KAUST first access to the latest developments from PacBio, including exclusive sessions at conferences, early access to new protocols and products and enhanced technical support.

 

As result of the publicity that PacBio gives to CSP labs, the sequencing services at the Core Labs have increased visibility in Saudi Arabia and internationally. Consequently, new users and collaborators from the Kingdom and the rest of the world are in contact with the team about potential projects.

 

The BCL seminar was highly beneficial for all the attendees, as they learned from the presenting experts; networked with other scientists; and found out about the current state-of-the-art technology in long-read sequencing. After the seminar, several KAUST researchers approached the TGS team about new sequencing projects. The projects ranged from bacterial, plant and animal genome assemblies, marine metagenomics and RNA isoform sequencing, which, among others, are currently underway.

 

At the forefront of sequencing

 

In line with its mission to provide state-of-the-art facilities and services to support genomic and proteomic studies, BCL has been contributing to genomic-based research and the advancement of related technology.

 

“We thank the KAUST leadership and users of our core facilities for their strong support,” said Dr. Heiko Langner, facilities director of the KAUST Core Labs and Research Infrastructure. “It will allow BCL to remain at the forefront of the sequencing technology. They can count on our staff’s expertise to collaborate in this complex and fast-developing field of science.”

 

BCL looks forward to another great and successful year filled with scientific excitement. Stay tuned to BCL to learn more about upcoming seminars!