Case Study: European Molecular Biology Laboratory achieves 100× faster, secure global distribution of 10,000 TB/year with Aspera

Enabling Molecular Biology Research with High-speed Data Transfer

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is a leading life‑sciences research organization that operates across multiple sites in Europe and serves thousands of researchers worldwide. Faced with distributing ever‑larger next‑generation sequencing and bioinformatics datasets to partner labs, hospitals and universities, EMBL needed a secure, reliable way to move terabytes of data quickly—physical shipping and FTP were too slow, insecure or unreliable for time‑critical research.

EMBL deployed Aspera Connect Server (powered by the FASP® protocol) integrated into its web portal so researchers can upload and download large datasets via a self‑installing browser plug‑in or command‑line tools. Transfers that once took days now complete in hours (or minutes), throughput is up to 100× faster, and EMBL routinely distributes up to 10,000 TB per year with encryption, automatic resume on interruption and no recorded data loss—dramatically speeding collaboration and turnaround for experiments and clinical projects.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Jürgen Zimmermann

Senior Engineer Automation