17 December 2012 | News | By BioSpectrum Bureau
Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR) and Fluidigm establish GIS-Fluidigm Single-Cell Omics Center (SCOC) dedicated to accelerating cell biology
Singapore: The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and Fluidigm established the first research center in Asia exclusively dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how individual cells work, and how diagnosis and treatment might be enhanced through insight derived from single cells. The GIS-Fluidigm Single-Cell Omics Center (SCOC) is expected to act as a focal point for collaborative efforts among single-cell genomics researchers across the region.
The center will provide single-cell analytics across a diverse collection of stakeholders such as drug discovery firms, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academia and clinics. The SCOC is targeted to provide single-cell infrastructure across Singapore and Asia that will engage various disciplines in an adaptive multi-source platform.
The SCOC will be housed in dedicated laboratory space at GIS facilities in Biopolis, Singapore. It will feature the full capabilities of Fluidigm's new C1TM Single-Cell Auto Prep System and the Fluidigm BioMark HD System for gene expression analytics and validation. In addition, the center will have access to various NGS capabilities for sequencing.
GIS is one of the world's premier centers for human genetics studies, genomic discovery, and the pursuit of integrating technology, genetics and biology towards the goal of individualized medicine. Dr Paul Robson and Dr Bing Lim, GIS senior group leader and associate director, Cancer Stem Cell Biology, will oversee the initial projects run through the SCOC.
GIS executive director Professor Ng Huck Hui said, "GIS has identified Single-Cell Genomics as one of our new research frontiers. We are set up to build a repertoire of new research capabilities for single-cell analyses. Our initial collaboration with Fluidigm has borne fruit with the publication of a landmark paper by Dr Paul Robson. This larger and very important collaboration will see an even greater synergy between the technologies from GIS and Fluidigm."