Category Archives: BioInformatics

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Aug-2014 Contact: Robert Redmond rredmond@cshl.edu 516-422-4101 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Informatics can vastly assist progress in research and development in cell and molecular biology and biomedicine. However, many investigators are either unaware of the ways in which informatics can improve their research or find it inaccessible due to a feeling of "informatics anxiety." This sense of apprehension results from improper communication of the principles behind these approaches and of the value of the many tools available. In fact, many researchers are inherently distrustful of these tools. A more complete understanding of bioinformatics offered in A Bioinformatics Guide for Molecular Biologists will allow the reader to become comfortable with these techniques, encouraging their usethus helping to make sense of the vast accumulation of data. To make these concepts more accessible, the editors approach the field of bioinformatics from the viewpoint of a molecular biologist, (1) arming the biologist with a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts in the field, (2) presenting approaches for using the tools from the standpoint of the data for which they are created, and (3) showing how the field of informatics is quickly adapting to the advancements in biology and biomedical technologies. All concepts … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Aug-2014 Contact: Vanessa Loh vanessa_loh@a-star.edu.sg 656-826-6395 Biomedical Sciences Institutes (BMSI) Scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) and the Bioinformatics Institute (BII) have found new clues to early detection and personalised treatment of ovarian cancer, currently one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose early due to the lack of symptoms that are unique to the illness. There are three predominant cancers that affect women breast, ovarian and womb cancer. Of the three, ovarian cancer is of the greatest concern as it is usually diagnosed only at an advanced stage due to the absence of clear early warning symptoms. Successful treatment is difficult at this late stage, resulting in high mortality rates. Ovarian cancer has increased in prevalence in Singapore as well as other developed countries recently. It is now the fifth most common cancer in Singapore amongst women, with about 280 cases diagnosed annually and 90 deaths per year . Identifying Ovarian Cancer Earlier IMB scientists have successfully identified a biomarker of ovarian stem cells, which may allow for earlier detection of ovarian cancer and thus allow treatment at an early stage of the illness. The team has identified a molecule, known as Lgr5, on … Continue reading →

Proteomics Bioinformatics Relevant Conference OMICS Group International through its Open Access Initiative is committed to make genuine and reliable contributions to the scientific community. OMICS Group... By: omicsgroup incorporation … Continue reading →

Enabling Bioinformatics via High Performance Computing Interview with Prof Marc Wilkins, Director Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics. By: Intersect Australia Ltd … Continue reading →

29.07.2014 - (idw) Universitt des Saarlandes In the case of a cough or a sore throat, the doctor can usually diagnose a common cold immediately. However, the diagnosis of hereditary illnesses like cystic fibrosis, which affects the metabolism, or Huntingtons disease, which leads to cognitive decline, is much more complex. A patient may suffer from a multitude of symptoms, pointing to several different diseases. This can now be remediated using a program developed by bioinformatics experts from Saarbrcken, which is now also available as an app. With the aid of this application, physicians can discover patients afflictions quickly and without great research effort. The computing method that the program is based on compares different patterns of hereditary diseases from an extensive online database and weights them by their likelihood. Diseases like diabetes, epilepsy, a heart defect or deafness can themselves be symptoms of a range of hereditary diseases. That makes it so difficult for medical specialists to diagnose someone with the correct disease from the beginning, says Marcel Schulz, who is leader of the research group High-throughput Genomics & Systems Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and also a researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Multimodal Computing and … Continue reading →

St Louis, MO (PRWEB) July 28, 2014 Appistry, Inc., a leading provider of tools, software, and services that bring the power of genomics to next-generation medicine, announced today its judging panel for the inaugural Appistry Pipeline Challenge. Two Appistry staff will be joined by Dr. Callum Bell, president of the National Center for Genome Resources, and Mr. Neil Miller, director of informatics at Childrens Mercy Hospitals and Clinics of Kansas City. Rounding out the panel are Appistrys Dr. Richard Mazzarella, chief scientific officer, and Dr. John Begemann, director of product management. The Pipeline Challenge is a great opportunity for those with an idea for a next-generation sequencing application to gain the resources to bring that idea into production, said Mr. Miller. Im looking forward to seeing some innovative entries that push boundaries, and for the chance to help make someones crazy idea a reality. Mr. Millers research interests include HPC, data visualization, and high throughput genome analysis. In addition to positions at the National Center for Genome Resources, iXL, Inc., and Genome Therapeutics Corporation, he has developed multiple software applications, including SSAGA, RUNES, VIKING, and Alpheus, which received a Bio-IT World Best Practices award and was a finalist in the … Continue reading →

Keep an eye on the balding fellow, leftmost among the guys in white shirts at the start of the video. Look at that poor bastard. Dude's tired and depressed from a long day of middle-managing a Lithuanian bioinformatics firm or whatever, just minding his own business, trying to have a drink and a good time, trying to forget his troubles for a while. I bet his name is Donatas. He looks like a Donatas. Poor ol' Donatas. Rough day for the Donster. He just wants something to get the ol' blood pumping again. To make him feel alive! What was that drink the hip young guys were talking about at the office last week? The Flaming ... Porsche? Ferrari? No ... Lamborghini! That's the one. Yeah, one of those. Donatas will have the Flaming Lamborghini. One Flaming Lamborghini, one jolt of hot fiery excitement, and then he can go home to Viktorija and the kids with a smile and some pep in his step. Yeah, keep your eye on your good buddy Donatas. What happens next is, the bartender turns his head into a fucking tiki torch. The most intriguing thing about this video is the uptempo nightclubby music playing … Continue reading →

Eagle, the Cambridge UK bioinformatics software and services business, has made several key appointments as it rolls out major initiatives in genomics research. The scale-up follows significant developments for Eagle this year. It recently won a Small Business Research Initiative competition, which will see the company further develop its technology for genomic data management and analysis. The competition was funded by the Department of Health, through the SBRI and managed by Genomics England, which supports the efforts to map 100,000 whole genomes of NHS patients with cancer or a rare disease by 2017. As a winner of the first phase, Eagle has received a share of the 1.6 million fund available. This will be used to extend the capabilities of its existing technology platform, which has been developed to meet the demand for improved NGS technology in the healthcare sector. Eagle, based at Babraham Research Campus, is propelling new opportunities in large scale omics data and its application to real world problems in health, wellness, food and environmental sectors. The latest appointments include a new vice-president of global sales and internal promotions for the chief scientific officer and chief technical officer positions. Michael Reynolds joins Eagle as VP of global … Continue reading →

July 28, 2014 redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online A previously undetected virus, discovered in intestinal samples, could influence the behavior of common gut bacteria and could even play a role in conditions such as diabetes and obesity, according to a new Nature Communications study. According to BBC News health reporter Smitha Mundasad, scientists from San Diego State University were exploring genetic material found in intestinal samples when they discovered a new type of bacteriophage which they have dubbed the crAssphage virus. The virus, the study authors explained, is present in more than half of the worlds population and it was apparently discovered by accident. CrAssphage, as it turns out, was first detected when SDSU bioinformatics professor Robert A. Edwards discovered an unusual cluster of viral DNA while studying the samples of 12 individuals. The viral DNA strand was approximately 97,000 base pairs long, and was common to each of the samples. Edwards and his associates checked their discovery against a comprehensive listing of known viruses, but found no match. They then screened for it across the National Institute of Healths Human Microbiome Project (HMP) and Argonne National Laboratorys MG-RAST databases, and again found it in several human … Continue reading →

Sharing of bioinformatics data with UGENE The video gives an introduction to the shared database feature in UGENE. The database can be used e.g. by colleagues in a lab to share and synchronize differ... By: UniproUGENE … Continue reading →