COS will host training sessions for Agilent's European metabolomics customers needing formal training, and the two groups will jointly work on developing GC/QTOF MS/MS libraries with the company's 7200 GC/Q-TOF instrument, according to Steve Fischer, Agilent's marketing manager for metabolomics and proteomics. Agilent will provide beta-test equipment and software and demonstrate integrated biology workflows to customers in such disciplines as genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics and metabolomics in search of biological breakthroughs. Together, the collaborators seek to create a center of excellence, Fischer explains.

 

"Both groups want to expand the use of metabolomics as a research tool," he adds. "If the relationship is successful, there will be more labs using metabolomics as a tool in their research. The opportunity to offer metabolomics training by the Centre for Omic Sciences to Agilent's European metabolomics customers will be a large benefit to the European metabolomics research community. The development of GC/QTOF MS/MS libraries should benefit researchers worldwide."  

 

COS's main collaborators are groups at the Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM). The organization also has established additional collaborations with Drs. Shabaz Mohammed and Albert Heck at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and Dr. Rafael Simó at the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute in Barcelona.

 

"The integration of various 'omics technologies will be at the computational level," Yanes says. "This integration will be made possible by improving experimental design that should take into account particular methodological issues in metabolomics, proteomics and genomics simultaneously. We believe it is critical to create an environment in which our technical staff responsible for the different 'omics technologies can meet and discuss concrete experimental designs in order to facilitate further data integration."  

 

Yanes believes that the ultimate goal of COS research is to achieve a "bottom-up 'omics integration," particularly between metabolomics and the other 'omics. 

 

"At the COS, we will interrogate the biochemical basis of disease, starting with a non-hypothesis-driven approach using metabolomics technologies," he explains. "The comprehensive characterization of the lowest level of the cellular information flow—that is, metabolites altered by disease—can facilitate the biochemical interpretation and therefore subsequent generation of novel hypotheses."  

 

Key areas of research will be diabetic retinopathy, lipoproteins and cardiovascular risk.  COS is also very interested in the field of microbiota and its impact on obesity and insulin resistance, according to Yanes.  

 

He adds, "In the near term, I anticipate new methodological advances in the field of metabolomics. These include new software for metabolite identification, optimized sample preparation and new lipoprotein measurement in serum. This will result in a more comprehensive interrogation of biological samples that, in turn, will increase our understanding of the mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration in diabetic retinopathy and the cardiovascular risk in obese and diabetic people." 

 

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Agilent and Roche to provide continued support to Roche NimbleGen microarray customers  

 

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—In early November, Agilent Technologies Inc. and Roche signed an exclusive agreement to provide continued service to NimbleGen microarray customers as Roche phases out its NimbleGen array production and services.  

 

Researchers using NimbleGen microarrays for all applications, including comparative genomic hybridization, chromatin immunoprecipitation-on-chip, DNA methylation and gene expression can transition to Agilent arrays effective immediately, with minimal disruption. The similarities of the technologies and products from both companies provide an optimal transition path and the ability to run Agilent microarrays on the NimbleGen MS 200 Microarray Scanner.  

 

"This global collaboration provides our customers with a confident and straightforward solution to move from NimbleGen to Agilent microarrays," said Dan Zabrowski, head of Roche Applied Science, in a statement. "With Agilent as a leading global supplier of microarray technology, we are convinced researchers will be provided with the highest compatibility to NimbleGen products and services, and believe that they will continue to receive the exceptional service and support they have come to expect."