The Sapio Sciences Partner Program provides a comprehensive training and certification program to meet customers’ requirements efficiently and flexibly. Sapio’s partners include leading software providers, consultants, and industry bodies committed to driving customer value, and they share our commitment to fostering productivity and accelerating science.
Astrix, a Sapio partner, provides a specialized laboratory information management system (LIMS) implementation service that helps customers evaluate, select, implement, validate, and integrate systems into their research organization.
On December 4, 2024, Astrix sponsored a webinar by Dara McCreary, Ph.D., of Sapio Sciences, describing how the Sapio configurable LIMS can drive impactful discoveries in single-cell and spatial genomics research. Following is a summary of key topics covered.
Single-cell Genomics
Single-cell genomics reveals the unique genomic characteristics of each cell in a sample. The technology revolutionizes our understanding of biological complexity by uncovering the behavior and diversity of individual cells within a tissue or organism. Key features of single-cell genomics include:
- Single-cell resolution – captures genetic differences between individual cells.
- High sensitivity – detects rare cell types that might be missed with bulk sequencing.
- Cellular diversity – reveals cell heterogeneity within tissues or tumors, identifying subpopulations and their functions.
Spatial Genomics
Spatial genomics integrates genomic data with spatial information to enable the study of the organization and function of genes within the tissue architecture. Key features of spatial genomics include:
- Spatial context – maintains the physical location of cells within their native tissue, allowing for an understanding in the context of cellular interactions and microenvironments.
- High-resolution mapping – map gene expression and other genomic features at cellular or subcellular resolution.
- Multi-modal insights – combine information from various omics sciences.
Single-cell and Spatial Genomics Research Challenges
Single-cell and spatial genomics research holds great promise to improve our understanding of biological complexity and drive impactful discoveries across numerous scientific and medical disciplines. However, the research poses significant challenges, especially for laboratory informatics, including:
- Sample tracking: Managing and tracking thousands of individual cells through the sequencing process is error prone.
- Data volume and complexity: Large-scale, high-dimensional data sets are complex to store, manage, and analyze.
- Data quality and reproducibility: Noise, dropouts, and batch effects compromise the accuracy and reproducibility of research results.
- Data integration: Difficulty integrating sequencing data with metadata and other biological layers limits the potential for comprehensive analysis and discovery.
Sapio LIMS End-to-end Genomics Sequencing Informatics
Sapio LIMS is comprehensive in its end-to-end capabilities to collect, manage, and analyze the large amount of complex data associated with single-cell and spatial genomics sequencing. in the webinar, Dara describes three key capabilities:
- Healthcare customer relationship management: The Sapio hCRM is a central hub that streamlines lab workflows from order submission to reporting by integrating with the Sapio LIMS and EHR. It ensures secure management of patient information, sample data, and research findings, enabling seamless collaboration between researchers, clinicians, and patients for data-driven insights.
- Streamlined sample management: Sapio LIMS ensures efficient handling of single-cell samples from isolation to sequencing, enabling researchers to monitor sample quality, track processing, and maintain detailed metadata.
- Comprehensive reporting: Sapio LIMS provides comprehensive reporting solutions, including:
- Customizable reports tailored to meet specific project requirements of various stakeholders.
- Automated reporting to streamline report generation, reduce manual effort, and minimize errors.
- Integrated visualization with graphical representations to enhance data interpretation.
- Data traceability to ensure all data in reports is traceable for credibility and reproducibility.
Features and Benefits of Sapio’s Configurable LIMS
Genomics research is broad and dynamic in scope, requiring a laboratory information management system that combines specialized capabilities with flexibility and adaptability. Dara demonstrates how Sapio LIMS combines specialized end-to-end functionality with configurable capabilities to accommodate the rapidly advancing demands of single-cell and spatial genomics research:
- Customizable streamlined workflows: With a comprehensive suite of pre-built, specialized workflows that can be rapidly deployed to meet many genomics research needs and no-/low-code configuration capabilities, Sapio LIMS allows researchers to adapt processes as methodologies evolve to ensure alignment with leading-edge research techniques.
- Instrument integration and automation: Sapio LIMS is designed for out-of-the-box integration with various laboratory instruments and robotics, including genomic sequencers, and can also automate critical operational activities such as inventory management, sample tracking, and data tracking to increase efficiency, reduce human error, and accelerate sample processing.
- Integrated data analysis: Multiple options, such as a RESTful API, webhooks, and pre-built plugins, to enable seamless integration with bioinformatics pipelines and facilitate automated data processing and analysis. It is a centralized platform for storing, organizing, and analyzing sequencing data that enables researchers to quickly and easily access and interpret results.
Watch the webinar to learn more about how Sapio LIMS unlocks deeper insights from your genomics research.