‘Omics Miniaturisation: Taking ‘Omics into the Field: From handheld devices to autonomous monitoring stations
8-9 May 2014 Prepared by: Prof P Kille & Dr M Rivers
Premise:
The objective of this workshop is to identify the key environmental questions that could be leveraged given field based ‘Omics devices, identify those current developments that may underpin such devices and identify the major engineering challenges that need to be overcome to ensure these devices are realized. Workshop will have four contributing communities:
- Biologist: The environmental biologist.
- Technologists: The ‘Omics expertise.
- Engineers: The equipment/technical specialists.
- Industry: Commercial technology providers
Our intent is to generate potential road-maps that may deliver this technology into the hands of appropriate research communities.
Topical outline:
- 1. Science questions
- Dynamic response to environmental challenge: Species identification and diversity analysis by in-situ barcoding.
- Species conservation
- Temporal profiling: Automated monitoring of harsh and inaccessible environments.
- 2. State-of-the-art equipment
- Portable Mass Spectroscopy: From airport to fields
- The portable barcoding
- Field based QPCR
- Nanopore.
- Omics in Space.
- 3. Technical challenges
- Platform minituratisation
- Power
- Data processing and remote telemetry
- Ruggedization
- 4. Future possibilities.
- Are there unique or very difficult environmental questions that this technology would facilitate?
- What are the critical challenges needs to be addressed to realize these devices? (Developing a technical road map)
- Is there a ‘quick win’ that could be used to show the utility of this approach?
Workshop outline:
DAY 1
10:30 – 10: 40 Welcome & Introduction
- Pete Kille – Initial plenary session to outline the workshop and intended trajectory towards a workshop product.
SESSION I: SCIENCE QUESTIONS (these presentations will take place interspersed throughout day one)
10:40 – 11:00 Scientific challenges
- Ben Temperton – Resolving the ocean biogeochemical cycles
SESSION II: STATE-OF-THE-ART
11:00 – 13:00 State-of-the-art Presentations
- Dawn Field – Genomic Observatories
- Sujeevan Ratnasingham – Handheld DNA barcoding
- Martin Bidartondo – Molecular insights into symbioses: stories from the soil
- Peter Kille – Field based QPCR
13:00 – 14:00 LUNCH
14:00 – 14:20 Scientific challenges
- Daniel Read/Mike Bowes – Fresh water biomonitoring
14:20 – 15:50 Break-out discussion guided by challenge questions
Break-out Group Chairs: Group 1 – Thomas Meagher, Group 2 – Felix Forest
15:50 – 16:20 COFFEE/TEA BREAK
SESSION III: TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
16:20 – 17:00 Technical challenge presentation
- Michael Rose – Working in extreme environments
- Martyn Winn – Managing data flows
17:00 – 17:15 Scientific challenges
- Melody Clark – Omics and the Antarctic
17:15 – 17:45 Plenary reporting session
17:45 – 18:00 Summing up of Day 1
18:00 Departure to hotel
19:30 Dinner @ Wallingford
DAY 2
09:00 – 09:10 Plenary recap of emergent topics from Day 1 and structure for Day 2
SESSION IV: Future Possibilities & SESSION V: The Way Forward: Build Me a Device I Can Use In Modules!
09:10 – 10:00 Rotating subgroups to identify details of workflow for miniaturisation and ‘omics in the field
10:00 – 10:30 COFFEE/TEA BREAK
10:30 – 11:30 Continue breakout groups
11:30 – 12:00 Plenary for presentation and feedback
12.00 – 13.00 LUNCH
13.00 – 13.30 (TBC) Virtual Link Up to Environment Agency meeting on eDNA
SESSION VI: Write a Paper We Can Submit?
13:30 – 14:30 Discussion for workshop outputs
14:30 – 15:00 Wrap up and next steps
15:00 COFFEE/TEA and Departure
Workshop participants
| Name | Institution |
| Martin Bidartondo | Imperial College London & RBG Kew, |
| Mike Bowes | CEH |
| Melody Clark | British Antarctic Survey |
| Dawn Field | CEH |
| Felix Forest | RBG Kew |
| Peter Kille | Cardiff University |
| John Kupiec | Environment Agency |
| Thomas Meagher | University of St Andrews |
| Sujeevan Ratnasingham | iBOL |
| Daniel Read | CEH |
| Michael Rose | British Antarctic Survey |
| Malin Rivers | University of St Andrews |
| Kevin Smith | Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Ben Temperton | Plymouth Marine Laboratory |
| Martyn Winn | Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) |