Retirement Fail...

Well, I find myself a little less retired than I expected to be. My intention was to take a good long break before looking for something interesting. It seems, however, that something interesting has found me. I'm doing some work for a Danish startup called BlueSEQ.

They're setting up a sequencing service exchange. If you've got a sequencing project but no sequencer (or not enough capacity) you can put your project on the exchange and compare the various bids (to get the best price, right platform for the job, level of expertise you need, etc.) If you're a service provider or core lab with excess sequencing capacity you can bid for projects to keep your pipeline full. The service is free for researchers while the service providers pay a small service fee (but only for successful bids).

The best part is that the whole process is centered around the Project Design Tool. It takes researchers step by step through the process of describing their experimental needs, ensuring that both the researcher and the service provider are on the same page and everybody is getting exactly what they expected. The project designs can be saved and reused for future projects to maintain consistency.

So where do I come in? I'm developing the BlueSEQ NGS Knowledge Bank, a neutral repository of all things next gen sequencing. I've got the basics up now with general descriptions of the major platforms and applications as well as a list of NGS-focused conferences and meetings. Have a look and tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what's there now and what you'd like to see in the future.

Check out the official press release from BlueSEQ.