The UK genomic tools developer, RevoluGen Ltd. (‘RevoluGen or the Company), is pleased announce its participation in the 2020 Royal Society of Biology (RSB) ITN Productions ‘Biology for the Future’ film series, which has now been launched online.

The current-affairs style show anchored by ITN Productions Industry News presenter Samantha Simmonds, has been produced in partnership six leading bioscience organisations, exploring how their work is looking to positively impact the future.

‘Biology for the Future’ reveals the key challenges facing the global community; how developing technologies and emerging talent with game changing initiatives have come together to enhance understanding of bioscience and to challenge the issues that threaten the future of our planet.

RevoluGen’s segment showcases how science breakthroughs depend on innovative tools. Its proprietary Fire Monkey nucleic acid extraction technology is upgrading and revolutionizing the critical first step in DNA sequencing. Inventor of the Fire Monkey technology and RevoluGen’s CSO Dr Georgios Patsos says his discovery is a world-first and will be ground-breaking.

The bespoke programme, which is part of the RSB Biology Week 2020, combines interviews, special reports and editorial profiles on key themes across industry and the academic sector of the biosciences, including how the coronavirus pandemic has caused a shift in the work researchers are doing to find out more about the virus and how to tackle it.

The programme includes an interview with chief executive Dr Mark Downs CSci FRSB, where he identifies the most pressing global challenges to include climate change, ecological management and biodiversity, the continuing battle against antimicrobial resistance and the burden of infectious diseases. The full programme 'Biology for the Future’ can be viewed in full over on the RSB's YouTube Channel HERE.

‘Biology for the Future’ features films from six bioscience organisations including EUMESTAT, Humanimal Trust, Imperial College London, NuCana, ONI and RevoluGen, on the latest developments across a number of areas including weather forecasting, cancer treatments, and genomic sequencing.

“By extracting more, longer DNA in the Goldilocks range for long-read sequencing, faster, RevoluGen is enabling ground-breaking applications in genomics, medicine, agriculture and environmental research” said Dr Erling Refsum, RevoluGen’s COO. “By starting with long-length DNA, long-read DNA sequencing approaches can provide more precise diagnoses for targeted therapies, in cancer and other diseases. And can rapidly sequence and compare microbial genomes, helping to track outbreaks and manage antibiotic resistance” said its CEO Pieter Haitsma Mulier. “Eventually we’ll all have our DNA sequenced and medicine will be personal” said Chairman Sir John Chisholm. Watch the RevoluGen segment HERE.

Dr. Gemma Langridge Group Leader, Quadram Institute, a key user of Fire Monkey features, saying “We have found Fire Monkey to be much faster and easier to work with than alternate DNA extraction technologies and, most importantly, it delivers a true step-change in length of DNA, thus enabling multiplexed long read sequencing from ONT’s Minion. We look forward to continuing our relationship with RevoluGen to explore the role of their technology in metagenomic analysis and to explore automation.”

RSB chief executive Dr Mark Downs said “With the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen the work of biologists in the spotlight; from what they are doing to combat the pandemic to how their findings are being broadcast into homes across the UK on the news – and the bioscience community has been extraordinary in its response.

“This programme aims to tell new stories and showcase just some of the huge variety of work done each day by biologists, not only to tackle our most immediate problems head-on, but to ensure a brighter future too.

“2020 has taught us that the work the biosciences community does for the here and now is invaluable, and that work to address issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss is vital to ensure we have a future to look forward to.”

Elizabeth Fisher-Robins, Head of ITN Productions Industry News said: “We are delighted to partner once again with RSB to make a programme which demonstrates the vital role of bioscience on all our lives and the wide-reaching impact biology has on tackling global challenges that threaten our existence.”