NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Chinese sequencing technology firm MGI Tech said this week that it has partnered with the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet to study the role of the microbiome in human health.
According to MGI, the alliance will begin with the so-called 10,000 Metagenomics Project under which the partners will use the company's DNBseq sequencing technology to generate shotgun metagenomics data from an existing microbiome biobank. These data, MGI said, are expected to yield insights into the relationship between the microbiome, normal physiology, and disease.
Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"MGI's advanced technology enables high-throughput next-generation sequencing to support life science research, medicine, and healthcare," MGI President Duncan Yu said in a statement. "We expect our joint efforts could yield more achievements to significantly promote the approach of microbiome in precision medicine."
Last month, MGI, a subsidiary of BGI Group, said it raised over $200 million in an initial financing round.