ATCC and One Codex Form Collaboration to Address Challenges of Microbiome Research

ATCC, a global leader in biological materials development, management and standards, and One Codex, a leading microbial genomics and metagenomics platform, today announced the formation of a partnership to address microbiome research needs. Two of the key challenges in microbiome research, identified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and opinion leaders in the field, are genomic sequencing data reproducibility and comparative standards. The ATCC Microbiome Research Solutions portfolio, launched in partnership with One Codex, will provide sequencing controls and reference materials addressing these issues.

The ATCC Microbiome Research Solutions portfolio includes both nucleic acid and whole cell standards, which can be utilized in 16S and whole genome sequencing. As part of the joint product offering, customers will be able to upload their next-generation sequencing data directly to the One Codex platform and receive an easy-to-use, scorecard analysis of their ATCC Microbiome Standards. The companion informatics provide robust measurement of the standard materials, enabling more accurate and consistent metagenomic sequencing across laboratory protocols. In contrast, ad-hoc programs cannot effectively measure, monitor and improve microbiome analysis.

“Packaging our standards with the One Codex platform adds powerful, differentiating analytics that will help move microbiome research towards standardization,” said Joseph Leonelli, Ph.D., vice president of ATCC’s Microbiology and Government Solutions business. “ATCC looks forward to further developing and refining physical laboratory standards paired with state-of-the-art bioinformatics technology to improve analytical consistency worldwide.”

“One Codex and ATCC share a mutual commitment to deliver exceptional value to the microbiome research community,” said Nick Greenfield, founder and CEO of One Codex. “Together with ATCC, we are excited to make this product portfolio available to researchers worldwide. We remain focused on our efforts under the White House's National Microbiome Initiative to enable researchers to work with massive-scale microbiome datasets and reliably compare samples within and across studies.”

Data on the new ATCC Microbiome Research Solutions portfolio will be presented during the ASM Microbe 2017 Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 1-5, 2017.

Posters presented at ASM Microbe 2017:

• Development and Evaluation of Mock Microbial Community Standards based on DNA Extractability from Bacteria
• Validation of Differentiable Molecular Barcodes as Reference Spike-in Oligonucleotides for Microbiome Studies

ATCC is a premier global biological materials and information resource and standards organization and the leading developer and supplier of authenticated cell lines, microorganisms, and associated data for academia, industry, and government. With a history of scientific contributions spanning nearly a century, ATCC offers an unmatched combination of being the world’s largest and most diverse collection of biological reference materials and data, and is a mission-driven, trusted partner that supports and encourages scientific collaboration. ATCC products, services, partnerships, and people provide the global scientific community with credible, advanced, model systems to support complex research and innovations in basic science, drug discovery, translational medicine, and public health. ATCC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, and a research and technology center of excellence in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

Contact: Kim Testa, senior director, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, ATCC, [email protected]

One Codex, owned and operated by Reference Genomics, is a leading bioinformatics platform for microbial genomics, supporting taxonomic and functional analysis of metagenomic WGS, 16S, and other sequencing data. Reference Genomics specializes in creating robust, scalable, and secure bioinformatics solutions for metagenomics and microbial genomics, with a strong focus on ease of use. Founded in 2014, the One Codex platform counts thousands of users across leading academic institutions, biotechnology companies, and public sector organizations. One Codex is built on top of Amazon Web Services and is the only microbial genomics offering providing HIPAA-level security, as well as other strong compliance and audit guarantees. To learn more, visit www.onecodex.com.