SPECIAL FEATURE AT


MEDICAL ELECTRONICS


CELLULAR DEV CES VI


New gen


As genetic disea untameable thr


w genome ana nomics afford


and its part


lytics platform able for daily


ases such as cancer co eat, mecI


technologies industries, have unveile Platform (GAP), to enable the diagno


L


ooking at the Genome Analytics P latform, there is one defining feature: t he operation of a full genome analysis


of 48 samples in 48 hours. T he benefit of ? Genome sequencing


such a development with complex disorders.


facilitates the diagnosis of genetic diseases, for better t reating newborns i h l di d


T his sequencing does come with a cost of approximately 1,000 US dollars, a feasible price for a personalised t reatment of person-specific disorders. However, the nature of t he ‘raw data’ acquired from genome sequencing demands a lot of st orage space and


intensive comput ing power. This is where GAP comes in.


WHAT DOES GAP CONSIST O ?F AT


It comprises of a combined comput e cluster and ActiveScale cloud object


storage sy stem, provided by Western Digital, operating on an optimised


genomics software programme t hat can tap int o the cloud as and when needed. As such, this processes the full output of the sequencing machine, 48 genome samples, within 48 hours.


Moreover, as it is scalable to 63PB in a single namespace, ActiveScale provides


the capacity, data durabil capabilities required to an finalise the large amount projected by GAP.


ity and scaling nalyse and


of genome data


m makes clinic use in hospita


ontinue to loom over local population ners, working within t


d a plan of action in response: the Genome osis of these genetic diseases


“GAP is one of several medical research initiatives Weste in the field of ge Phil Bullinger, se Data Center Syst Data analytics an developments he h b


research be more predictive, productive and personal.” With discussion local or cloud comput best answer, this


e predictive, productive d i


ns ongoing on whether mput ing provides the s new platform offers


the best of both worlds: cost-effect analysis at a loca involving cloud c


HOW HAS GAP Integration is alr of Imec’s project


worlds: cost-effective al site, and faster analysis computing.


of Imec s project woven the platfo OnePGT solution by the University the Human Genet to better treat pa “Sequencing th patients is import


BEEN IMPLEMENTED? ready underway: one t partners, Agilent, has orm into the Alissa


n, currently being tested y Hospit al of Leuven and et ics Group of KU Leuven, atients.


rare diseases and for newborns, when decisions have to be made about t treatment. If a genome map can provide a full picture of g


in the newborns can be made on


he whole genome of rtant in the case of d for newborns, when o be made about their genome map can provide genome abnormalities body, better decisions


goes for prenata Vermeesch, Hum


the treat ment. The same l surgery,” explains Joris man Genetics Group:


Despite the breadth of samples necessary for an accurate analysis, the Genome Analytics


Platform with cloud allowing f input and


(GAP) operates d storage, for maximum output


several medical research ern Digital is supporting enomic analy sis,” says enior vice president of tems: “Enabling Big nd machine learning elps today’s medical di i


cal al


ocal populations like an the nanoelectronics an


nd digital e Analytics


rare diseases,” says Y Stadius, KU Leuven: “In t it is important to mention t was made compatibl


”


“In the future, when genome sequencing and analysis becomes faster and even more cost-effective, it is even thinkable that a whole genome analy performed for every patient “Indeed, this hybrid plat step for the diagnosis and t di


genome sequencing es faster and even , it is even thinkable e analysis can be patient.”


d platform is a major is and t reatment of Yves Moreau, from “In t his context, ention that GAP le with the WINGS


platform, one that can compare t of patients from different without revealing th


an compare the data ferent hospitals,


For rare diseases, this is the key to a successful diagnosis.”


WHAT DOES IMEC HAVE TO SAY ABOUT GAP?


AT AY


Roel Wuyts, head of Imec’s ExaScience Life Lab, concludes, “For now, t interface developed by


on the data from the cloud and local computing, needs to be analy specialised doctors. However, in t future, it is thinkable t intelligence can assist


by Agilent, based e cloud and local o be analysed by However, in the e t hat artificial st wit h the


interpretation of the dataset whole genome sequencing and analyses to the doctor. They c


main messages and possible treatments with the patient. This cycle, from sample over sequencing to t


should be possible in only a few hours.” With this technolog


can be readily available for diagnosis and treatment, reducing t patient and furtherin


cing t he risk to the ng the mission to


prevent mortality at the hands of genet disease. With the emerging genome sequencing technolo


in development at Imec, t


is creeping closer towards a successful outcome for medical science.


I mec www.imec-int.com 22 MAY 2019 | ELECTRONICS / ELECTRONICS


the hands of genetic merging genome ogy on display and mec, this mission wards a successful l science.


e dataset, delivering encing and analyses can then discuss the possible treatments is cycle, from sample treatment options, n only a few hours.” gy, information ble for diagnosis


Imec’s ExaScience “For now, the


e patient’s identit y. is is the key to a .”


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