Disclaimer

General

SeqDesk is an open-source research tool developed at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). The information provided on this website and within the software is intended for research and educational purposes only. While we strive to keep the content accurate and up to date, we make no warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, or suitability of the information.

Research Use Only — No Clinical or Diagnostic Use

SeqDesk is a research tool. It is not a medical device and has not been cleared, approved, certified, or registered for clinical or diagnostic use under the EU In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or under any other regulatory framework.

SeqDesk and any results it produces — including sequence quality metrics, taxonomic classification, and pathogen, virulence, or antimicrobial-resistance predictions — must not be used as a basis for diagnosis, treatment, patient management, or any other clinical or medical decision. Any use involving human-derived or clinical samples is the sole responsibility of the operator and must comply with all applicable laws, ethics approvals, and institutional requirements.

No Warranty for Analysis Results

Pipeline and analysis outputs produced by SeqDesk — such as quality metrics, host or contaminant read removal, taxonomic assignments, and resistance or virulence predictions — are computational estimates generated by third-party bioinformatics tools and reference data. They may contain errors, omissions, or inaccuracies and depend on the inputs, parameters, and reference databases chosen by the operator.

Results are provided on an “as-is” basis and must be independently verified before being relied upon for any purpose.

Product Images

Product images displayed on this website are AI-generated illustrations created for identification purposes only. They are not photographs, official renderings, or property of any manufacturer. No endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation with any device manufacturer is implied.

These illustrations may not accurately represent the appearance, dimensions, or features of the actual products. For accurate product information and imagery, please refer to the respective manufacturer’s official website.

Trademarks

All product names, company names, logos, and brands mentioned on this website are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Use of these names and marks is solely for identification and reference purposes and does not imply any affiliation with, endorsement by, or sponsorship by the respective trademark holders.

Specifically, but not limited to: Oxford Nanopore Technologies, MinION, GridION, PromethION, Flongle, MinKNOW, Illumina, MiSeq, MiSeqDx, Pacific Biosciences (PacBio), and Revio are trademarks of their respective owners.

Technical Data and Specifications

Sequencing device specifications, compatibility information, flow cell data, kit details, and software descriptions presented on this site are compiled from publicly available sources and are provided on an “as-is” basis for informational purposes.

We do not guarantee the accuracy of this data. Users should always verify compatibility, specifications, and current availability directly with the respective manufacturers before making purchasing or experimental decisions.

Open-Source Software

The SeqDesk bioinformatics platform is provided as open-source software under the Apache License 2.0 (Apache-2.0). The software is distributed on an “as-is” basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied. See the full license text for more details.

SeqDesk Lab (formerly LabDesk, Kim, and SeqDesk Mail) is a separately distributed proprietary application and is not licensed under Apache-2.0.

Source code is available at github.com/hzi-bifo/SeqDesk.

Third-Party Software and Reference Databases

SeqDesk can install and run third-party bioinformatics pipelines and download third-party reference databases. These components are not part of SeqDesk and are distributed under their own licenses and terms, which you are responsible for reviewing and complying with. This includes, among others, nf-core workflows, Kraken2 and its reference indices, the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB), and any private or licensed pipelines such as MetaxPath.

Some reference data carries attribution, share-alike, non-commercial, or academic-only conditions. The Apache-2.0 license covering the SeqDesk bioinformatics platform does not grant any rights to these third-party tools, databases, or their content.

Submission to Public Data Archives

SeqDesk can prepare and submit study, sample, and sequence data to public data archives such as the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) operated by EMBL-EBI. Submitting data to a public archive may make it permanently and publicly available under that archive’s terms, and submissions may be difficult or impossible to retract.

SeqDesk transmits the metadata you provide without additional filtering. You are responsible for ensuring that you are entitled to submit the data, that all required consents and approvals are in place, and that no personal, patient-identifying, or otherwise confidential information is included.

Responsibility for Personal and Clinical Data

SeqDesk is self-hosted software operated by you or your institution. When you enter or process data in a SeqDesk installation — including names, contact details, free-text descriptions, sample metadata, or custom fields — you act as the data controller and are solely responsible for the lawfulness of that processing, including obtaining any necessary consents and applying appropriate anonymization or pseudonymization. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research is not the controller for data processed in installations operated by third parties.

Self-Hosted Deployments and Security

Operators of SeqDesk installations are responsible for the security and configuration of their deployments, including network exposure, access control, encryption, and backups. New installations are created with a default administrator account for initial setup; this account and any other seeded credentials must be changed immediately, and instances should not be exposed publicly without appropriate hardening. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research accepts no responsibility for installations operated by third parties.

SeqDesk Lab, Exchange, and LLM Endpoints

SeqDesk Lab (formerly LabDesk, Kim, and SeqDesk Mail) is proprietary software. It is provided “as is” without any voluntary warranty. Statutory rights remain unaffected, and any limitation of liability applies only to the extent permitted by applicable law.

SeqDesk Lab connects to the Exchange server and LLM endpoint selected by the operator. AI-assisted features such as tagging, task extraction, summaries, and reply drafting may transmit relevant message content and metadata to the configured LLM endpoint. When that endpoint is remote, the transmitted content leaves the operator’s Mac and may leave the operator’s organization.

Operators are responsible for choosing an appropriate endpoint, obtaining any required organizational authorization, and ensuring that processing complies with applicable data-protection law, confidentiality obligations, and institutional policies. A local endpoint can keep AI processing on the operator’s Mac; an institutionally hosted endpoint can keep it within the selected organization’s infrastructure.

External Links

This website contains links to external websites operated by third parties. We have no control over the content, privacy practices, or availability of those sites and accept no responsibility or liability for them. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement or recommendation.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the developers of SeqDesk and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research limit liability for damages arising from use of this website or the SeqDesk software, including loss of data, revenue, or research outcomes. Nothing in this notice excludes or limits liability for intent, gross negligence, injury to life, body, or health, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

Contact

If you believe any content on this website infringes your rights or if you have questions about these notices, please contact us through the Impressum contact details.