From observational to actionable: rethinking omics in biologics production

Omic experiments have become increasingly popular in biotechnology; however, project timelines and system complexity make extracting actionable insights challenging.Current applications of omic technologies within the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) community provide predominantly observational data; however, these can become more actionable through the use of careful experimental design and/or emerging systems biology methods.Mechanistic models for diverse cellular systems have recently been developed and statistical analysis techniques for large datasets are increasingly commonplace but have yet to be widely applied to CHO omic data. As the era of omics continues to expand with increasing ubiquity and success in both academia and industry, omics-based experiments are becoming commonplace in industrial biotechnology, including efforts to develop novel solutions in bioprocess optimization and cell line development. Omic technologies provide particularly valuable ‘observational’ insights for discovery science, especially in academic research and industrial R&D; however, biomanufacturing requires a different paradigm to unlock ‘actionable’ insights from omics. Here, we argue the value of omic experiments in biotechnology can be maximized with deliberate selection of omic approaches and forethought about analysis techniques. We describe important considerations when designing and implementing omic-based experiments and discuss how systems biology analysis strategies can enhance efforts to obtain actionable insights in mammalian-based biologics production.