Implementing new processes or tools into your existing workflows can be both exciting and challenging. Whether you’re leading a research project or managing a team, it's crucial that any changes are introduced seamlessly without disrupting momentum. This is especially true in omics research, where quality assurance (QA) processes for analysis pipelines need to evolve as rapidly as scientific innovations.
At Magna Labs, we recognize the critical need to support the development of reproducible and high-quality bioinformatic tools that accelerate novel discoveries. Miqa was designed to break down the barriers to software QA in the life sciences, allowing research teams to access real-time performance and quality metrics for their bioinformatic pipelines. Over the past few months, we've collaborated with bioinformatics teams ranging from start-ups to pharmaceutical giants to enhance their development workflows and the quality of their production pipelines. We've also been gathering valuable user feedback, which has driven us to improve Miqa’s usability and overall experience.
We're excited to announce the release of Miqa v1.3.0 —an updated version that significantly reduces the learning curve for bioinformatic QA and simplifies the onboarding process. With several new features, Miqa v1.3.0 makes it easier for bioinformatics teams to integrate their data and pipelines, enabling them to start their first QA test run quickly and efficiently.
With the new Output Explorer, users can quickly create software tests or compare test outputs from different versions of bioinformatic pipelines without needing any coding or configuration. This tool comes equipped with built-in QA and performance metrics (i.e., test assertions) for quick file comparisons, and allows users to either create a new test chain—a sequence of individual test cases executed in a specific order to validate different aspects of the software—or inherit existing test assertion protocols from other test chains. This enables more structured and comprehensive testing of bioinformatic pipelines.
The Grid Uploader Tool allows users to effortlessly upload offline outputs from local test runs of their bioinformatic pipeline versions. Once uploaded, datasets, versions, and results can be viewed in an intuitive grid format. From this grid, users can easily initiate QA executions and explore their results with the Output Explorer, making it easier than ever to start their analytical QA journey.
For users who primarily run their pipelines locally or on private computing infrastructure, Miqa now supports offline uploads of local bioinformatic pipeline results via the command line (CLI). This new feature ensures that teams can easily upload their output data for in-depth quality assessments directly from the command line, offering a more flexible and efficient workflow.
Teams working with multiple cloud providers can now integrate with various cloud platforms in a single Miqa instance. This enables users to perform assessments and analyses across different cloud computing environments simultaneously, with the flexibility to switch between them seamlessly during QA tasks.
With Miqa v1.3.0, we’ve focused on making the software QA process faster, more intuitive, and more accessible for bioinformatics teams. The newly introduced features are designed to minimize barriers and streamline workflows, ensuring that users can set up and execute their QA tests quickly without compromising on accuracy or performance.
At Magna Labs, we are committed to supporting the life sciences community by continuously evolving Miqa to meet the growing demands of bioinformatics research. Whether you're running complex analyses on cloud platforms or offline environments, Miqa v1.3.0 is here to make bioinformatic QA faster and easier, empowering you to drive quality from research to clinical applications.
