New grant will see Genestack expand its capabilities into agri-genomics
Cambridge, 12 October 2015 … Genestack, the developer of a next generation enterprise platform for genomics research and development, has secured £90,000 through an Innovate UK grant.
The grant will see Genestack work alongside Rothamsted Research, a leading UK agricultural research institute, to expand their capabilities in agri-informatics, initially through a joint feasibility study. Agri-informatics is becoming increasingly important for global food security, and as a result of this, new tools and techniques are required.
The study will look at ways to improve how high-throughput bioinformatics techniques are used to support genomics-based approaches to research in crop improvement and crop protection. Research in both of these areas is key to improving food security. The pilot study will bring together components of Rothamsted Research’s QTLNetMiner software with Genestack’s bioinformatics platform. This will then be used to develop an integrated multi-omics data management, pre-processing and interpretation service for large agri-tech companies.
Misha Kapushesky, CEO of Genestack said: “This grant will be key to extending our bioinformatics capabilities to agri-genomics. Food security is becoming a major global challenge and traditional techniques to improve crops simply cannot keep pace with a rapidly changing environment. Through this grant and the partnership with Rothamsted Research, we are now well placed to expand our offering into the agri-genomics sector, beyond our traditional sector of human health.”
Professor Chris Rawlings, Head of Computational and Systems Biology at Rothamsted said that “this is an excellent opportunity for the bioinformatics team at Rothamsted to work with an industrial-strength bioinformatics supplier. We hope that this project will be start of a long-term alliance with Genestack that will translate our novel network-bioinformatics solutions into a platform that can be readily used to accelerate research in the agri-tech research and development sector.”
Since its establishment in 2011, Genestack has expanded significantly. From its offices in Cambridge and St Petersburg, it now runs a globally used next generation enterprise platform for genomics research and development, which has a growing range of academic and commercial users.
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For further information, please contact:
Tony Stephenson
Exitus Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7899 796655
Email: tony@exituscommunications.co.uk
Notes to editors:
About Genestack
Genestack is an established company, transforming how genomic research and development is done via its next generation universal bioinformatics platform. The platform allows researchers to focus on their research, saving both time and money for its users across a range of industries and sectors. Through its community platform Genestack has a strong and growing base of users, alongside a growing number of significant corporate customers, which is supported from its offices in Cambridge and St Petersburg.
www.genestack.com
About Rothamsted Research
We are the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for over 170 years. Our mission is to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production. Our strength lies in the integrated, multidisciplinary approach to research in plant, insect and soil science.
Rothamsted Research is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). In 2013-2014 Rothamsted Researched received a total of £32.9M from the BBSRC.
http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/
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