RIBOLUTION Biomarker Center

The RIBOLUTION Biomarker Center was founded in 2016 and emerged from the successful cooperation of 5 Fraunhofer Institutes and other clinical partners within the project, funded by the Fraunhofer Zukunftsstiftung. After the completion of the project, the research and contract work in the field of molecular diagnostic analytics and bioinformatic evaluation was established under a quality management according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015.

The scope of the certificate covers "research and contract work in the field of molecular diagnostic analytics and its bioinformatic evaluation, with a focus on personalized medicine, as well as optimization and development of modern processes and applications for molecular diagnostics including next-generation sequencing." The quality management system at the Biomarker Center, ensures that internal processes, the quality of services, and relationships with partners and customers follow a measurable system. The QM system accurately maps processes, increases their efficiency and minimizes the susceptibility to errors. A central aspect at the Biomarker Center is process validation. By means of a documented process, it can be shown at any time that it meets the requirements of the service offered and provides reliable traceable results. This enables us to drive competitive research and development projects together with our partners from industry, hospitals and research institutions.

Our focus: Transcriptome and genome analyses including bioinformatic evaluation up to prototype development for lab-developed tests (LDT) and In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD).

In the Biomarker Center, new diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers are systematically and comprehensively identified and confirmed using state-of-the-art techniques including next-generation sequencing (NGS). Competencies in study and data management are used to plan and conduct clinical cohorts and manage clinical and experimental data. In addition, the biomarker screening process is optimized with the help of technical innovations.

Clinical cohorts

• Study design for the biomarker screening process
• Support from a network of clinical partners (e.g. in the fields of oncology and immuno-oncology)
• Sample management
• Experimental design

RNA Biomarker Screening

Biomarker Identification

• Comprehensive RNA biomarker screening process
• Sequencing from many sources incl. tissue, blood, plasma, urine and exosomes
• Sequencing of low-input and difficult samples (e.g. FFPE tissues, biopsies)

Biomarker Validation

• Standardized sample preparation and quality controls
• Validation and assay development by PCR methods

Next- and 3rd-Generation Sequencing

• Whole transcriptome & mRNA sequencing
• Whole genome sequencing
• Microbiome (16SrDNA)
• Nanopore sequencing (MinION)
• Single Cell Sequencing
• Spatial Sequencing

Bioinformatics

Data Science for RNASeq

• State-of-the-art sequencing data analysis
• Automated pipeline for sequence data mapping, assembly, and analysis
• Machine learning for high-dimensional expression data

Computational Biology

• Integration of Omic-wide data sources (e.g. TCGA)
• RNA biomarkers (lncRNAs, circRNAs, single cell analysis, immune cell profiling)
• Microbiomics

Statistical Learning

• Multivariate regression models
• Survival analysis
• Differential expression analysis
• Meta-analysis

Software-Development for IVD prototypes

• Software requirement specification
• Processes for sw-development, sw-maintenance, problem resolution, sw-risk-management and sw-configuration-management

Technology / Devices

• High-performance computing cluster
• NextSeq 2000 und MiSeq (Illumina)
• MinION (Oxford Nanopore)
• Chromium Controller (10X Genomics) 

• State-of-the-art analysis tools
• Fast data transfer
• Fast and direct communication through one contact person
• Continuous quality control under DIN EN ISO 9001 standard

We are a team of life scientists and bioinformaticians that provides end-to-end support in all phases of sequencing experiments: from experimental design to final analysis!

Please contact us for an individual offer!