A reliable partner for nanopore sequencing and bioinformatics

The Bioinformatics Knowledge Center (BiKC) at Howest was established in 2018 within the advanced bachelor of bioinformatics (BIT) program in English. Many laboratories and companies do not have the knowledge, expertise or resources to hire a full-time bioinformatician. The bioinformatics knowledge center responds to this with hands-on research and services. Customized applications can be designed to analyze and visualize biomedical and biotechnological data, among other things, and, depending on the question, can be combined with databases for data storage and data management. Pipelines and containerized bioinformatics solutions are developed through automation and scripting using e.g. bash, R and Python. Moreover, the large amounts of publicly available data allow for the generation of new hypotheses and new insights at times.

Within the knowledge center, the Howest nanopore lab was recently established in collaboration with the Biomedical Laboratory Technology (BLT) program. This nanopore lab focuses on nanopore technology, the newest third generation DNA sequencing technology, which allows you to quickly and affordably analyze the code of DNA and RNA in real time in any kind of sample. Depending on the applications, very interesting total solutions can be offered to partners in the field with both wet lab and dry lab analyses, whereby the entire workflow, from sample to report, can be completed quickly and efficiently within the same research group.

BiKC collaborates with Blikopener, an initiative of the Flemish Council of Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts to sensitize and advise organizations on innovation. Blikopener helps the BiKC to generate new ideas, create collective involvement and realize proof of concepts. This way, the BiKC can better align its expertise and services with the needs of the market and society. Click here for more information.