Why be satisfied with snapshots if a comprehensive analysis of individual immune cells is within reach?

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Our immune systems are designed for diversity. Through a combination of innate and adaptive immunity, based on humoral and cellular responses, its primary function is to defend us against threats—both external (e.g., infectious disease) and internal (e.g., cancer). The immense diversity in our repertoires of antibodies and B- and T-cell receptors (BCRs and TCRs) is achieved through an elegant set of homologous variable, diversity, and joining (VDJ) genomic regions that recombine to form functional genes. B-cells then undergo additional affinity maturation, whereby unique immunoglobulin VDJ rearrangements acquire somatic mutations, and those clones containing mutations conferring higher antibody specificity proliferate. Immunology does not only focus on antibody and cellular repertoires that recognize threats, but seeks to elucidate the mechanisms by which infectious and genetic disease agents evade immune-mediated detection and destruction.

Massively parallel sequencing and spatial analysis approaches, such as single-cell immune profiling and single-cell transcriptomics, have enabled incredible advances in immunology and immunotherapy. Nevertheless, large gaps exist due to the limitations of whole-genome amplification (WGA) methods, which are required for single cell genomic analysis.

BioSkryb’s versatile and scalable single-cell whole genome amplification technology (PTA) and powerful bioinformatics platform (BaseJumper™) enable high-resolution analysis of genomic blueprints and functional gene expression profiles of individual immune cells. In combination with oligonucleotides and antibodies this offers the ability to study of each immune cell at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic level.

In addition, our technology allows for the precision analysis of individual tumor cells. This uncovers clues about neo-antigen production and potential responses to checkpoint inhibitors, thereby assisting in the design of effective and personalized immunotherapies and disease management strategies.