ACADEMIA

According to a recent survey of more than 600 genomics researchers, leading information technology (IT) vendors Apple, Cisco Systems, Dell, IBM and Microsoft are widely perceived to be the best qualified to implement new technologies that will advance genomics research -- specifically supercomputing, collaborative software and storage area networks. Sun Microsystems and Oracle, also fared well -- especially among pharmaceutical and biotechnology scientists. "The genomics market for IT solutions is still fragmented and many scientists are only now beginning to appreciate the powerful role IT will play in their research," said Bill Kelly, President of BioInformatics, LLC gene2drug.com, an Arlington, VA-based market research and consulting firm. "It appears that many scientists are relying on brand associations formed in the consumer market when naming the IT vendors qualified to develop and install life science solutions." These findings were published in BioInformatics, LLC's latest report, "Information Technology in the Life Sciences: An Examination of Genomics Researchers," which is based on one of the largest surveys ever of scientists who use information technology to make sense of the huge volume of genomics data being generated in research labs. Genomics is the study of genes and their function -- an area of research that is revolutionizing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of disease and leading to the identification of thousands of new biological targets for the drug discovery programs of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Scientists worldwide are acquiring genomics data through the use of techniques such as amplification, DNA microarray expression, real-time PCR and genotyping. Instrumentation, hardware and software are then required to analyze, integrate and transmit this vast amount of data -- which has resulted in significant IT challenges for those in the field. "IT vendors need to understand that they can play a role at each stage in the genomics 'value chain,'" said Kelly. "The process begins with the acquisition of data from analytical instruments and progresses through data processing, analysis, distribution and storage. The challenge facing scientists is that this is a heterogeneous hardware and software environment, which makes it difficult to integrate multiple application tools and disparate data." Life science instrumentation companies are also players in the genomics market for IT products and services. Instruments from Affymetrix, Agilent, Applied Biosystems, Beckman Coulter, Bio-Rad, GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences and Roche Applied Science incorporate software designed not only to operate the instrument but also to help scientists analyze and interpret the results. "Some instrument vendors are also becoming full-fledged software developers," noted Kelly. Genomics software is one of the areas where the report highlights a possible market opportunity. A number of commercial independent software vendors such as Accelrys, DNAStar, Gene Codes and Spotfire have developed targeted products for genomics, but scientists still rely on a confusing mix of internally developed software, freeware distributed throughout the scientific community, commercial packages from independent vendors and software embedded in analytical instruments. According to Kelly, "A true 'whole product' solution has yet to emerge, which means that there are still opportunities to set the de facto standards that create customer lock-in and encourage other vendors to develop products to complement and enhance the leader's solution."