A New National Multiomics Center Established at the Technion
Progress in many disciplines is increasingly dependent on large scale analyses of gene expression, the proteins cells make and the diverse metabolites (e.g. sugars, lipids, amino acids) cells make, use, break down and secrete. These disciplines include agriculture, food production, fresh water supply, waste disposal, preservation of natural habits, aquatic ecology, biological materials production, biological sciences, bacteriology, virology, early detection of disease, drug development, healthy aging and personalized medicine. Traditionally, analyses are carried out separately at each level, resulting in approaches known as Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics. However, combining these levels of analysis into comprehensive, multi-level analyses – Multiomics – while only at its infancy is expected to provide huge gains and new insights in all of the aforementioned disciplines.
The new National Center for Multiomics* will be established at the Technion, in collaboration with Ben Gurion University (BGU) and the University of Haifa. The Centers whose front end is currently being set up in the Emerson Building, will build upon, unify, and harmonize the activities of the Azrieli Technion Genomics Center (Technion), the Smoler Proteomics Center (Technion), the Perlmutter Metabolomics Center (Technion), the Metabolomics Unit (BGU), the Bioinformatics Core Facility (BGU) and the nascent Lipidomics Core Facility (HU). The Center, initiated by the Technion Sustainability and Human Health Research Fronts, and made possible by a large grant from the Council for Higher Education and the Planning & Budgeting Committee, will provide a one-stop shop for Multiomic analyses – an initial point of contact, expert consultation on study design, sample storage and preparation, sample analyses, data integration, bioinformatics, statistical analyses, data summaries, assistance with publication, and readily accessible data repositories. It is thus expected to vault progress in a vast array of crucially important disciplines.
