E6
Ensembl-based Genomics Services for Animal Breeding, Aquaculture, and Biodiversity
Dr Emily Clark, EMBL EBI
EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH
Challenge
Domestic animal and biodiversity genomics are rapidly expanding fields generating massive amounts of sequence data.
Current methods for, pangenome construction, and functional analysis are fragmented and computationally intensive.
Breeding programs and biodiversity projects require high-resolution, actionable genomic insights to inform trait selection, disease resistance, and environmental adaptation.
Industrial partners often face data accessibility, confidentiality, scalability and sustainability issues with ‘in-house’ genomic tools.
Technology
Ensembl Infrastructure & Web Applications:
o The team develops the core infrastructure, regulatory annotation pipelines, and web applications for the Ensembl genome browser, a globally recognized platform.
o Supports genome annotation, functional genomics, and comparative analyses across species.
Genome Annotation & Comparative Genomics:
o Multi-genome and pangenome workflows for domestic animals, aquaculture, and biodiversity species.
o Includes gene tree construction and homology analyses to study evolutionary relationships, species-, breed- and population- specific genomic variation, including structural variants.
o Integrates genomic data with climate information to explore how genetic variation impacts environmental adaptation and associated traits.
Data Portals & Submission Tools:
o User-friendly web portals for project specific metadata validation, standardized data submission, and integration with public archives (e.g., FAANG, Earth BioGenome Project).
o Incorporates AI-supported data querying and provides visualization tools to facilitate exploration of complex functional genomics datasets.
Potential to Provide Industry-Deployable & Confidential Pipelines:
o On-site deployment for secure integration of proprietary breeding or biodiversity datasets.
o Customizable annotation, regulatory, and comparative workflows tailored to customer needs.
Commercial Opportunity
We provide a professional pipeline for genome annotation, functional genomics, and comparative analysis in animal health, agriculture, aquaculture, and biodiversity, with regulatory annotation, pangenome analyses, and AI-enabled visualization, deployable on-site for secure handling of proprietary data.
Development Status
TRL7 and above
Patent Situation
copyrights
Know-how based
Further Reading
[1] doi:10.1093/nar/gkae1071
[2] doi:10.1093/gigascience/giaf119
[3] doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2024.740589
