A uniqe combination of Focus Areas

Our origins, the composition of our team, and our activities over the past two decades have resulted in a unique combination of skills and experience that is unparalleled in the field of developing bioinformatic services and products for molecular (DNA sequence-based) testing in microbiology and biotechnology.

We are implementing industrial-grade software and at the same time we are deeply rooted in the underlying bioinformatic concepts and have a broad understanding of the molecular methods that generate the data to be processed.
In addition, we place a strong focus on curating and providing reference data (incl. various aspects of microbial systematics such as up-to-date taxonomy and nomenclature), as documented by our corresponding activities (see Networking paragraph below).
Last but not least, these capacities are combined with more than a decade of experience in supporting regulated environments such as the pharmaceutical industry. Ribocon runs a Quality Management System (QMS) and conducts Computer System Validation (CSV) of selected solutions to enable full GxP compliance.

Whatever kind of service or product you receive from us, you always benefit from all other aspects outlined.

Who are our Services and Solutions aimed at?

Looking at the areas of focus described, the main target group for our solutions converges in molecular laboratories within regulated environments such as the pharmaceutical industry or clinical diagnostics, i.e., laboratories beyond research, with a productive focus such as quality control (QC). But we are not limited to this area. We also support industry in developing solutions that are closer to research or even entirely research-based, and of course we also work directly for academic clients when more technical support is needed. In addition, we also serve end customers indirectly by supporting other solution providers in the same markets.

What all our customers have in common is that they (intend to) process DNA sequence data for characterization purposes. This characterization can be a taxonomic identification/classification of pure cultures or complex samples (metagenomes). It can also answer the question whether a (DNA) product meets its specifications, as is required in gene therapy, for example.

Our Slogan revisited

It is nearly impossible to achieve maximum precision with only four words and without excluding certain aspects at the same time. Therefore, some further annotation on our company slogan:

Computational
Shall describe that we are specialised on IT aspects - we are not operating a laboratory.
Solutions
Shall describe that we focus on providing something you can use in-house or in the cloud - but of course we also offer our expertise for data analysis services and support.
Molecular
Shall describe that we are specialised on processing of DNA sequence data - and the corresponding metadata.
Biotechnology
Shall describe that our profile is of particular interest to customers from industry - but not only to them.

Networking for even more Expertise

We are convinced that valuable analysis of DNA sequence data following maximum quality requirements can only be done if also the corresponding current scientific standards are part of the underlying considerations.

That is why (i) we are actively involved in SILVA, the leading database project for ribosomal RNA gene sequences in the acadamic field ( More Details), and (ii) we maintain an own free cloud service for genome-based taxonomic analysis of bacteria named JSpeciesWS, which includes a reference dataset of more than 60k public genomes, curated and constantly extended by us ( More Details). Both projects help us to remain in contact with the scientific community, to expose core concepts to academic experts, and to receive valuable feedback.
These activities are complemented by our repeated participation in public collaborative research projects. As full project partner we have supported the consortia with our know-how in bioinformatics and data management (see Left Sidebar for examples). And we are always looking for new oppertunities to uphold this philosophy.

Team

Our team consists of a stable group of microbiologists, bioinformaticians, and computer scientists. What makes us special is that each of these experts also has a broad understanding of the other disciplines, enabling us to plan and execute our projects in a truly integrative manner. We have all been active in this field since the beginning of the millennium and have thus actively shaped its development.

Ribocon was founded in 2005.