MIF OMICs Open-for-Business
In January, the first element of the Materials Innovation Factory (MIF) – the MIF OMICs facility, opened for business. As part of a wider project funded by the University of Liverpool, Unilever and HEFCE’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF); MIF OMICs is focused on the exciting possibilities offered by next generation sequencing and computational biology.
Located on North Campus, within the MerseyBio building, a brand new office space has been created, to allow the co-location of University of Liverpool researchers with external industry partners. Investment has also been made into new laboratory equipment and technical support staff, which will allow for a broader scientific capability. As an ‘open-access’ space, the MIF OMICs facility will be open to a range of different partners, from internal researchers to external businesses – whether a local Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) or a large multi-national.
To ensure projects can reach their full potential, assistance can be provide in the following:
- Initial scoping discussions,
- Project definition,
- Sample preparation, including single isolation/ separation,
- Sequencing library preparation,
- Sequence production on a range of 2nd and 3rd generation sequencing platforms,
- Analysis and interpretation of data.
Commenting on the opening of the facility, Manager of the MIF OMICs, Dr Christiane Hertz-Fowler said ‘This exciting development gives us the ability to co-locate staff and significantly enhances our technical offering and the way we conduct research with industrial partners. This is a key milestone for the MIF project and we look forward to working closely with a range of potential University and Industry collaborators’.
If you are interested in finding out more about the MIF OMICs facility, please e-mail Dr Hertz-Fowler at chf@liverpool.ac.uk.