| RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS |


The accuracy of GelApp 2.0, designed by A*STAR researchers, has been enhanced by a cutting-edge image-processing algorithm. GelApp 2.0 can provide accurate gel band detection results from images taken under the unique conditions present in individual labs.


Biomedical science


GAME ON FOR MORE EFFICIENT ANALYSIS


SCIENTISTS USE A GAMING ALGORITHM TO ENHANCE A DNA SEQUENCING ANDROID APP


The accuracy of a smartphone app called GelApp, designed by A*STAR scientists to help analyze biomedical samples, has been greatly enhanced by the addition of a cutting-edge image-processing algorithm. GelApp was developed in 2015 by intern


Jia-Zhi Sim under the supervision of Samuel Ken-En Gan and Hwee Kuan Lee at the A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute. The app analyzes and labels outputs from ‘gel electro- phoresis’ — a common laboratory technique that separates and identifies molecules, such as DNA and proteins, by passing a sample through a gel under electric charge. Individual molecules move through at different speeds, so they separate out and create a pattern of bands across the surface. Gel band images are traditionally analyzed by eye and labeled by hand; the size of each band indicates which precise molecules are present, and highlights where genes are truncated or proteins are altered. “Eyeballing band-size means that subtler


details might be missed, not to mention the time demanded by the task,” explains Gan.


8 A*STAR RESEARCH ISSUE 6 | JANUARY – MARCH 2017


© John Lamb/DigitalVision/Getty


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