SHENZHEN, China, 28 April 2023 – MGI Tech Co. Ltd. (MGI), a company committed to building core tools and technology to lead life science, today announced that nearly 60,000 samples have been sequenced across 21 institutes and more than 10 participating countries throughout Europe as part of the Million Microbiome of Humans Project (MMHP), which was officially launched in 2019.
The project was initiated as a joint effort by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, Shanghai National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases in China, the University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark in Denmark, MetaGenoPolis at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) in France, and the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre. Powered by MGI’s core DNBSEQ™ technology, MMHP aims to sequence and analyse microbial DNA from one million human samples to construct a comprehensive microbiome map of the human body and establish the world’s largest human microbiome database.
“Countless studies have highlighted the importance of the microbiome in human health and disease. Yet our understanding of microbiome composition across different body sites, countries, ages and sexes, and its relationship with health and disease, remains limited,” said Duncan Yu, President of MGI. “Through MMHP, we are advancing microbial metagenomic research while enabling researchers in the microbiology community to access MGI’s innovative sequencing technology. Despite a brief interruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to see such a significant milestone achieved just four years into the project.”
The rise of microbial metagenomic sequencing
Since the first description of the human microbiome was published in 2010, the field has rapidly progressed from studies involving hundreds of individuals to those involving thousands. Advances in genome sequencing have enabled researchers to better characterise microbiome composition through the identification of unculturable microbes, while also allowing deeper investigation into how the microbiome influences cancer development and drug response.
Metagenomics, combined with high-throughput sequencing technologies, has revolutionised microbial ecology. Today, metagenomic sequencing is both a powerful and widely adopted tool for identifying and classifying complex microbial communities. It supports accelerated discovery of markers associated with virulence or antibiotic resistance, as well as de novo discovery and characterisation of novel species and genome assembly. Beyond the human microbiome, metagenomics is widely applied in agricultural and environmental microbiome studies, pathogen surveillance and identification, and antimicrobial resistance monitoring.
The global metagenomic sequencing market was valued at USD 1.86 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 4.33 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4%. Europe and Africa together account for approximately 29.7% of the global market, ranking second after North America at 45.6%. Driven by ongoing innovation in high-throughput sequencing platforms, the metagenomic sequencing market in Europe and Africa is expected to grow from USD 551.7 million in 2022 to USD 1.29 billion by 2027, creating substantial opportunities and encouraging greater regional investment and participation.
An optimised workflow with MGI’s cutting-edge technology
Equipped with MGI’s advanced laboratory systems, the MMHP Consortium benefits from high-throughput processing, exceptional precision and high-quality data output. The end-to-end workflow begins with sample transfer using the MGISTP-7000* high-throughput automated sample transfer processing system. This is followed by nucleic acid extraction and library preparation on the MGISP-960 high-throughput automated sample preparation system, a flexible, fully automated workstation capable of processing 96 samples per run. The MGISP-960 supports DNA extraction of up to 50,000 samples per year and library preparation of up to 25,000 samples per year.
MGISP-Smart 8, a professional automated pipetting robot equipped with eight independent pipetting channels, is used for pooling, normalisation and DNB preparation. Sequencing is then performed on the DNBSEQ-T7* ultra-high-throughput sequencer and the DNBSEQ-G400* versatile benchtop sequencer, delivering an efficient, productive and streamlined sequencing workflow.
“We place strong emphasis on data quality, cost efficiency and turnaround time. After comparing MGI’s DNBSEQ™ technology with other sequencing platforms, we are confident that MGI’s products meet high industry standards and deliver an excellent user experience,” said Professor Lars Engstrand, Research Director of the Centre for Microbial Translational Research (CMTR) at Karolinska Institutet. “MGI’s platforms have enabled our team to advance from 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to shotgun metagenomic sequencing. I look forward to introducing additional equipment and undertaking larger-scale projects as the human microbiome becomes increasingly important for diagnostics and treatment in precision medicine.”
The next chapter in microbiomics
“Microbiomics will form an integral part of precision medicine in the future, and data generated from the microbiome biobank created through MMHP will be leveraged for therapeutic research and development,” said Professor Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich of University College London, UK. “With 21 public and private institutions across more than 10 countries already involved, we are actively seeking additional research groups to join this landmark international collaboration and help build the world’s largest free-access human microbiome database.”
Since the launch of MMHP, MGI has played a key role by providing state-of-the-art research platforms and technologies. Now entering its second phase, with the goal of sequencing and analysing a total of one million samples, the project welcomes further collaboration and participation from relevant organisations to jointly advance translational microbiome research and applications.
*Unless otherwise stated, StandardMPS and CoolMPS sequencing reagents, and sequencers compatible with these reagents, are not available in Germany, Spain, the UK, Sweden, Italy, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Hong Kong (CoolMPS is available in Hong Kong).
*For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures, except as specifically noted.
