GENOMICS

The Genomics Area began its journey in September 2016 as a commitment of the Council of Tenerife and ITER for the promotion and development of research projects related to the development of Personalized Precision Medicine in the Canary Islands.

The activity of the area allows the development of one of ITER’s social purpose in particular, the creation of infrastructures, the education and training of scientific and technical staff, and the exploitation as industrial and commercial activity of the company’s resources in the field of Biotechnology. To this end, the Genomics area has a Molecular Biology laboratory, equipped with new generation DNA sequencers and all the necessary auxiliary instrumentation for the preparation of nucleic acid libraries. In these modern facilities, massive nucleic acid sequencing is possible using various methodologies such as whole genome sequencing (WGS), whole exome sequencing (WES), transcriptomics (RNA-Seq), epigenetics (MethylSeq), functional genomics (ChIP-Seq), etc. In addition to the use of standard sequencing protocols such as those mentioned, ITER’s Genomics laboratory can adapt and configure specific protocols for unique projects, relying on its Molecular Biology laboratory.

The human team of the Genomics area is made up of scientific and technical personnel specialized in Life Sciences, Biomedicine, Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering, among others. The network of collaborators includes academic and hospital institutions, as well as national and international scientific entities with which collaboration agreements have been established for the promotion of R + D + i projects in various fields where Genomics offers innovative and efficient solutions.

The Genomics area does not perform sequencing on demand from individuals. However, due to its dual vocation of scientific research and service, it collaborates with the referred institutions and entities in the design of adapted solutions, experiments, massive DNA sequencing, data processing and in the results interpretation.

All this activity is channeled through several projects, among which the development of the so-called Service of Massive Analysis of Genomic Data stands out for its relevance and general interest, at the request of the Council of Tenerife, which has multiple applications in various fields. In addition to those already mentioned, work is being carried out on lines of research and development in the genetics of populations and biodiversity, prevalent diseases, in the study of somatic variation, in the application of new third generation mass sequencing technologies, and the creation of a bioinformatics tool ecosystem for Big Data processing, among others.

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