NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Life Technologies today announced a deal with German software firm Ridom making its SeqSphere+ whole-genome bacterial typing software available for the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine platform.
According to Life Tech, SeqSphere+ allows for a genome-wide approach to type "hundreds to thousands" of genes, resulting in more accurate bacteria typing. The product includes a DNA re-sequencing editor for editing and analyzing de novo or reference-mapped assemblies of next-generation sequencing data. It also includes analytical tools, a database, and methods for automatically typing bacteria.
Life Tech noted that the PGM platform is being used to subtype flu viruses by the Global Influenza Network, a collaborative effort between the company and researchers at government public health organizations, veterinary agencies, and research institutes.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not revealed.
"It is our aim to deliver a fully integrated turnkey solution for public health and clinical research microbiology," Dag Harmsen, a co-managing director of Ridom and professor at the University of Muenster in Germany, said in a statement. "Together our solution provides an easy workflow with nearly no user intervention, delivering high quality results using the Ion PGM System."