Desktop Genetics: Handling huge data with scaling on Google Cloud

About Desktop Genetics

Set up in 2012, Desktop Genetics is a London-based bioinformatics company that specializes in processing data from the breakthrough CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique. Its flagship DESKGEN Cloud tools platform brings a range of genomics data processes together under an intuitive interface, while its team of 16 provides custom data design, testing, and analysis of gene-editing experiments for major pharmaceutical companies, academic research labs, and biotech start-ups in Europe, the US, and Japan. More about Desktop Genetics: www.deskgen.com.

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Google Cloud results

  • Enables massive data processing on demand with rapid scaling on Compute Engine
  • Delivers security and client confidentiality with confidential buckets on Cloud Storage
  • Eliminates the need for SSH key provisioning, improving teamwork

    By applying machine learning to new genetics technology, London-based start-up Desktop Genetics has become a front-runner in the field of bioinformatic software development. In genomic analysis, a single cell typically generates around a terabyte of raw data, meaning Desktop Genetics has to process very high CPU loads. And because every experiment is unique, data traffic on the company's servers can vary enormously from one project to the next. Desktop Genetics makes this possible by scaling at speed on Google Cloud, so that their DESKGEN platform and analytical tools can now handle even the most data-intensive lab work.

    “Science is fundamentally unpredictable, so it's very difficult to forecast how many servers you're going to need six months from now. Being able to tap into a pool is truly valuable. Google Cloud allows us to expand rapidly in order to meet demand,” says Riley Doyle, CEO and technical lead, Desktop Genetics.

    Meeting unpredictable demand with maximum efficiency

    The revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique has made genetic engineering fast and affordable, but it also produces massive amounts of data and requires major processing capacity. Desktop Genetics specializes in handling and analyzing this information for laboratories, but maintaining a bank of high-spec servers is inefficient if they’re not used and is insufficient for handling the CPU demands of major experiments. Desktop Genetics has to match processing capacity to unpredictable and extreme loads, and with maximum efficiency.

    Google Cloud is a perfect solution. Compute Engine can spin up VMs in seconds, so capacity even at major scale can be activated and deactivated according to need — a major change from the company’s dedicated private servers, which took a day to spin up and 30 days to stop. Cloud Storage buckets further improve efficiency by saving machines and standard reference files, keeping automatic backups, and allowing servers to work across each other, instead of as autonomous nodes, reducing the need to replicate functionality. The company can guarantee security and privacy to third parties with confidential buckets and Google Cloud’s granular access controls, auditing, and HIPAA compliance. And the development team can easily switch between each other’s servers without a need to provision SSH keys every time, improving teamwork.

    "We might only have one request an hour on a server but that one request is so data intensive that it’s like a tsunami in terms of CPU load. We had physical servers that were grossly over spec just sitting around most of the time, wasting resources. Google Cloud is fantastic because we can dynamically turn servers on and off and resize them,” says Riley.

    Working fully at the genomic scale

    With Google Cloud, Desktop Genetics can immediately take on large-scale bioinformatics projects that had previously demanded bespoke solutions. And with Google Cloud’s multizone architecture, they can set up demo servers and present their services to global clients without connection issues. Now the company is using Google Cloud billing oversight to attribute CPU resources to particular products, to further optimize expenditure.

    “What we're able to achieve with Google Cloud is incredible. Nothing else scales like it, and you need this capability to work with genomic data. You won’t be able to develop personalised gene therapies and cell therapies to cure cancer and other diseases without it. Google Cloud has really allowed us to make the jump to working fully at the genomic scale,” Riley says.

        Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.

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        About Desktop Genetics

        Set up in 2012, Desktop Genetics is a London-based bioinformatics company that specializes in processing data from the breakthrough CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique. Its flagship DESKGEN Cloud tools platform brings a range of genomics data processes together under an intuitive interface, while its team of 16 provides custom data design, testing, and analysis of gene-editing experiments for major pharmaceutical companies, academic research labs, and biotech start-ups in Europe, the US, and Japan. More about Desktop Genetics: www.deskgen.com.