Antibody Sequence Analysis Tool
Overview
The Antibody Sequence Analysis Tool was developed for a university health system department performing pandemic prevention research. In 2019, the client approached SciMed to improve the speed of their antibody DNA sequence analysis pipeline, which relied on a distributed manual process that was tedious and time intensive.
Challenges
Due to the nature of their business, the client needed to be able to analyze antibody sequences on demand. The Antibody Sequence Analysis Tool would need to resolve many pain points for the client, including:
Easily tracking and organizing key metadata
Capturing data at multiple stages in their workflow
Scaling the system as their business and processes scaled
Automating previous manual workflows
Our approach
In September of 2019 we began work with the client to create a system that would improve the speed of their antibody DNA sequence analysis pipeline. The client had an existing analysis script running on an individual scientist’s computer. We built a robust user interface around the script so that users could request and receive results quickly whenever they needed them.
Throughout the development process, requirements changed due to adjustments that the scientists made to their workflows in the lab. One key realization made was that they’d need data to be captured at additional steps in their process. To implement this change, we worked alongside the client to determine how the additional features should be prioritized against the already defined work and addressed them in kind; this ensured that the features that were most valuable to the client were delivered first.
Results
The finished product utilizes the client-built sequence analysis tool, wrapped in an easy-to-use interface that allows users to track, analyze, and store their data. They can keep the data private to themselves or share it with collaborators within the system. Since implementing the Antibody Sequence Analysis Tool, the client has been able to:
Streamline and automate previously manual tasks
Organize and make accessible key metadata
Significantly reduce the amount of time required to receive analysis results
