An Interview with Alan Atchley
Alan Atchley, a project manager at Bio-Rad Laboratories, specializes in Analytics. Following college graduation, he worked for several biotech start-ups, focusing on process development and manufacturing of products for pre-clinical and early stage clinical trials. Using his knowledge in bacterial and mammalian cell culture, purification of proteins and nucleic acids, and aseptic packaging, Alan found the experience he needed to work at Bio-Rad.
Now, with the knowledge about the operations that go to developing products, Alan deals with data science in the Global Commercial Operations division where he helps products from the laboratory sell and work as best as possible. “We provide reports in table and visual formats for the operational,” or how the team at Bio-Rad is working, “transactional,” how many people are buying the products, “and performance metrics” and how well these products are helping scientists around the globe. In other words, Alan and his team are in charge in measuring the success of the business to keep science happening as efficiently as possible.
So dealing with product development and data analytics, the obvious question to me was: what is the logic behind research on COVID-19 and product development to deal with it?
Bio-Rad Laboratories is one of the world-leaders in PCR and assay production. These are essential for testing for COVID-19 because they are able to detect nucleic acids and proteins. Being able to detect RNA from the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself, or pro-viral DNA in a human cell, or antibodies fighting against an infection are all signs of a positive COVID-19 patient. Being able to be as sensitive to these possible signs are critical for public health officials to pinpoint COVID-19 carriers. Finding carriers make sure they are taken care of and so they will not pose a threat to those around them, including their own families and friends. In essence: what Bio-Rad is doing is essentially making sure everyone can be spotted, everyone can be taken care of, and everyone can be safe.
For example, the Platelia SARS-CoV-2 Total Ab assay is an in vitro, or outside the body, blood-based serological immunoassay. Meaning, it takes a patient’s blood and uses a specialized antibody or antigen to detect other antibodies in response to a Sars-CoV-2 infection. These antibodies include the major ones called IgA, IgM, and IgG antibodies.
IgM antibodies are the initial antibodies that appear right after an infection, usually five to ten days after the infection has occurred. These IgM antibodies are found in the B cells of vertebrates and are used to isolate antigens and bind to them in a sort of “tracker device” for other cells like phagocytes to eat them up (this is called opsonization).
IgA antibodies are antibodies that are present in mucosal surfaces, such as lining your stomach, mouth, and lungs. These antibodies are the first to see any invasion of microorganisms or in the case of COVID-19, a virus which is also a respiratory illness.
IgG antibodies are found in the later stages of an infection, even during a secondary immune response. These antibodies are the most common antibodies in the blood, large proteins that help in making the body more immune to an infection. Knowing more about these antibodies tell you about the immune status of a patient.
Quantitative PCR, or qPCR, is a method used to quantify, or measure, how much nucleic acid is in a sample. In comparison to PCR, which only detects the presence of nucleic acids, qPCR shows how much nucleic acids there are by rapidly taking pictures of fluorescent proteins that light up during the reaction. Knowing how much nucleic acid there is can show how much RNA is present from the SARS-CoV-2 virus or proviral DNA in a host.
As a person who works at Bio-Rad, Alan explained about the current economic crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic,
With regards to the current situation of shortages of equipment, the larger corporations involved are doing what they can within the existing infrastructure (expanding working hours, which could provide an opportunity for the underemployed); working with suppliers for more raw materials (another work source), and increasing the range and scope of the transportation network to deliver their products (another work source). While this is not a complete answer to the vast numbers of underemployed people, this will at least provide a bridge to get supplies where they are most needed. There also needs to be a shift away from disposable products to ones that can be reused for the long haul. The current infrastructure is set-up to handle short term incidents such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. A long-term event such as a pandemic is not the scenario that is planned for, leading to shortages within days on the onset.
In other words, the challenge becomes being able to scale the level of production needed for testing and vaccination worldwide. Just in the United States alone, there were about 162 to 169 million vaccines administered in 2019 just for the seasonal flu. According to Alan, “scale-up is an important aspect of the work along with stability, quality, and accuracy of the products as they grow in size. There are also efforts in planning for the final on the shelf configuration as well as establishing a robust supply chain such that production can be maintained for the lifecycle of the product.” Meaning, even if a vaccine was ever able to be created, we need to have solutions to being able to employ people to help manufacture and distribute them with absolute precision and efficiency.
For high schoolers, what are ways we can be a part of the world-wide solution? Learning from Alan, the key was this: take part in all aspects of science and get good enough at the material to be able to get as much experience as possible.
My advice for molecular biology and biotechnology-interested students is to have a good foundation of learning (chemistry, physics, biology) so that it can be applied to an ever-growing range of products and technologies. Biotechnology is a mature industry now and has a vast range of opportunities for research, development, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and commercialization. For myself, I was a TA in high school chemistry lab classes and I interned as a part-time microbiology technician while in college.
When I asked about job experience in the company, it wasn’t just knowing your books. As someone who manages a team, Alan tells us about the hiring process.
For job candidates, having some related work experience to go along with an understanding of what the company is doing is a great start to stand apart from other candidates. Work experience can be interning, part-time, full-time, and even volunteering in the field of interest.
For hard skills, we usually have the candidates describe the underlying science behind the products of the company or in some cases there are interview tests to complete. For soft skills; active listening, examples of teamwork in planning, problem solving, and reaching goals are often asked during the interview processes.
Ultimately, these skills aren’t just for the heck of it, but they are part of the group effort to meet a goal. Being able to perform the science with a group of all extremely capable people is critical in solving the problems that our future depends on. “Personally I miss the chance to see the teams in person when they could travel and meet as a larger group, which helps gather immediate feedback and consensus on the topics at hand,” Alan remarks. It’s the team effort that will get us through these challenging times.
More Resources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323069472100094
“Chapter 9 - Antibodies.” Immunology for Pharmacy. Mosby, 2012, Pages 70-78, ISBN 9780323069472
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-06947-2.10009-4.
https://www.bio-rad.com/featured/en/coronavirus-covid-19-assay-development-vaccine-research.html
Bio-Rad Laboratories. SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Assay and Research Solutions. Retrieved May 2020.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16362985/
van Egmond M., van Garderen E., van Spriel A. B., et al. FcαRI-positive liver Kupffer cells: reappraisal of the function of immunoglobulin A in immunity. Nature Medicine. 2000;6(6):680–685. doi: 10.1038/76261.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B012226765600325X
Painter R. “IgG.” Encyclopedia of Immunology (Second Edition), Elsevier. 1998. Pages 1208-1211. https://doi.org/10.1006/rwei.1999.0313.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm
“Key Facts about Seasonal Flu Vaccine.” Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May 2020.
