Agilent Technologies has introduced a newly optimised GeneSpring software package for researchers focused on genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics or any combination of life science disciplines.
Steve Fischer, market director for Agilent's Life Science Research Division said 'The GeneSpring enhancements enable end users to discover relationships in their data and get to conclusions faster.'
The GeneSpring GX and Mass Profiler Professional, now allows users to examine the strength and direction of the relationship among samples or between genes, proteins and metabolites, using Correlation Analysis.
A correlation coefficient is calculated and displayed in the form of a heat map. Users can also visualise sample attributes such as tumour size, experimental time points or diet. Changes in the measured omics data can be lined up with corresponding changes in the sample attributes for fast discovery of associations.
Pathway Architect, now supports the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways. Customers with KEGG licenses can search, score, save and share their results on their hard drive using Agilent's Pathway Architect.
Ricarda Fenske, a research officer at the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at the University of Western Australia, offers a case in point: 'In our research we are interested in correlating metabolites with each other. The Correlation Analysis feature in Mass Profiler Professional allows us to achieve that in a timely manner. It enables us to discover relationships between metabolites so we can draw conclusions about treatment effects on pathways quickly.'
Fischer said: 'Across all omics disciplines, researchers are creating larger and larger data sets with more entities-genes, proteins and metabolites-that put a greater strain on their data-processing resources. Agilent designed GeneSpring GX, Mass Profiler Professional and Pathway Architect to be cloud-deployed, which can give researchers access to additional processing power and enhance their ability to collaborate with distant colleagues.'
