DNAnexus, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based biomedical data analysis software serving the life sciences community, and Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced a collaboration aimed at accelerating research and reducing the time to design, validate, and commercialize new, high-quality, next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based diagnostic tests. As part of the collaboration, Twist customers are able to use the integrated DNAnexus platform with Twist’s NGS Methylation Detection System and Unique Molecular Identifier (UMI) Adapter System to simplify data analysis after sequencing.
@DNAnexus and @TwistBioscience collaboration aims to accelerate research and reduce time to design, validate, and commercialize new, high-quality, NGS-based diagnostic tests
The Twist NGS Methylation Detection System provides robust sample preparation and target enrichment solutions for identifying methylated regions in the human genome. Rare diseases, cancer, and other disorders can be identified by unique methylation patterns within samples. The NGS Methylation Detection System uses highly sensitive hybridization capture-based technology that can be integrated into diagnostic tests. This workflow can also be used to better characterize and understand the genetic mechanisms linked to specific conditions including cancer, neurodegeneration, and rare diseases. The Twist UMI Adapter System detects low-frequency variants in low-input sample sources such as cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and can be used to enable cancer research. The DNAnexus platform allows users to easily explore and analyze complex datasets in a single, scalable, cloud-based environment.
“This collaboration with DNAnexus is another example of our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with the tools they need for complete, customized, end-to-end workflows,” said Emily M. Leproust, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “Our customers can now access industry-leading computational infrastructure platforms to support their bioinformatics needs and reduce their data analysis timeline after performing a sequencing run with our NGS Methylation Detection and UMI Adapter Systems.”
Today, DNAnexus has more than 12,000 users across 48 countries and works with the largest and most innovative pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic laboratories, and academic medical centers around the world, along with the UK Biobank and the FDA. The platform provides a comprehensive cloud environment that supports the entire diagnostic development and production cycle from R&D through to deployment of the validated test. The environment was designed to meet the most rigorous standards for quality, security, privacy, and safety.