Daniel K. Fabian from Lonza in the UK presented at the Biopharma Day in Boston on “Precision cell engineering enabled through nanopore sequencing.” Lonza Biologics produces therapeutic molecules for clients using CHO cell-based manufacturing pipelines. The first step is the construction of the vector. The DNA is transfected into their cell line, and clones are selected based on their performance. Fabian noted that the team recently “onboarded” whole genome nanopore sequencing. They took two cell lines they had developed and sequenced them using ONT. These reference genomes are used with nanopore sequencing to evaluate their transposon-mediated transfection technologies. The long reads from ONT sequencing help determine where in the genome the integrations happen and how many events occurred. Methylation information also helps inform expression patterns. Cell line sequencing and methylation analyses also help explain phenotypic patterns observed and optimize the production of desired molecules. Fabian also noted that the team at Lonza is using short read and hi-C approaches. Fabian concluded that Nanopore genome sequencing at Lonza Biologics enabled precise assessment of clones, and methylation information can help streamline production.
