Organisation profile

Organisation profile

The Bioanalytics and Biological Data Science Team creates cutting edge solutions to challenges involving biological systems by combining automated experimental platforms and versatile bioanalytics with data-driven and mechanistic modelling. We support and enable our collaborators and customers to develop bioinspired products, and processes for biological conversion and synthesis.

Our analytics lab comprises state-of-the-art equipment for the analysis of small and large molecules with LC-MS (Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) and more. We combine these facilities with extensive knowledge about lipidomics and proteomics and have several proved platforms ready for small molecule, protein and glycan analysis. We also develop new analysis method for specific analytes and matrices.

Our automation platforms allow rapid development and high-throughput screening of microbial strains, in scales ranging from 1 ml to 200ml. In projects and customer work we create new protocols for efficient strain assembly, screening and protein measurements, as well as scalable cultivation methods.

Data from these areas as well as sequencing data informs our computational biology approaches. Through metabolic modelling we derive flux distributions and identify bottlenecks, design optimized pathways, and predict microbial community interactions.

Machine learning approaches enable us to derive predictions for the construction and constraint of metabolic models, for advanced analysis in the novel enzyme search, for NGS analysis, and for the design of novel proteins.

The current research questions that keep us excited are:

  • How to predict genotype-phenotype dependencies for host design?
  • How can machine learning guide us in designing new-to-nature enzymes?
  • How to use modelling, AI and automation to push industrial biotechnology beyond the obvious?
  • How can we use the power of natural microbial communities for industrial biotechnology?
  • How can we solve biological problems by means of mass spectrometry?

Our group works in close connection with other groups in VTT’s Industrial Biotechnology operations, e.g. metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, fermentation and protein discovery.

You can find more information about our analytics lab’s equipment and capabilities here.

And more about automation and robotics for biotechnology here

Free keywords

  • bioanalytics
  • computational biology
  • bioinformatics
  • LC-MS
  • GC-MS
  • UPLC
  • machine learning
  • deep learning
  • AI
  • sequence analysis
  • fermentation data analysis
  • metabolic modelling
  • genome scale metabolic models
  • lipidomics
  • proteomics
  • metabolic reconstruction
  • mass spectrometry

UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Our work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

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