Bioinformatics News and Research

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Bioinformatics is the application of information techniques for the storage, retrieval, and analysis of large quantities of biological data.

Biologists recommend virtual institute for RNA research

A Europe-wide network of labs focusing on RNA research is needed to make the most of RNA's high potential for treating a wide range of diseases. The recommendation for this virtual research institute comes from a panel of biologists at the European Science Foundation in a report published today, 'RNA World: a new frontier in biomedical research'.

12 Oct 2010

VBI researchers receive grant to study immune responses to gut pathogens

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a $10.6 million grant to researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and collaborators to determine how the human immune system responds to infection by pathogens of the gut. The funding will be used to apply mathematical modeling to the study of immune responses to gut pathogens.

11 Oct 2010

SRA International receives award of task order to continue support for TCGA

SRA International, Inc., a leading provider of technology and strategic consulting services and solutions to government organizations and commercial clients, today announced the award of a task order as a contractor to the National Institutes of Health to continue bioinformatics support of the Data Coordinating Center for The Cancer Genome Atlas.

8 Oct 2010

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center named Centers of Excellence for Molecular Hematology

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has been named one of five national Centers of Excellence for Molecular Hematology to find new gene and cell therapies for inherited diseases affecting blood cells.

8 Oct 2010

Study finds boosting mitochondria may delay onset of Parkinson's disease

In a study that sheds new light on the causes of Parkinson's disease, researchers report that brain cells in Parkinson's patients abandon their energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria. A shutdown in fuel can have devastating effects on brain cells, which consume roughly 20 percent of the body's energy despite making up only 2 percent of body weight.

8 Oct 2010

RDI launches HIV-TRePS system to predict patients’ response to HIV drugs

A ground-breaking system for predicting how individual patients with HIV and AIDS will respond to different drugs is launched today by RDI, a UK-based not-for-profit research group. The experimental system, called the HIV Treatment Response Prediction System (HIV-TRePS), is available free of charge over the Internet and helps physicians select the best treatment for their patients.

6 Oct 2010

CLC bio publishes article for simulating de novo assemblies

In the inaugural edition of the Open Access Journal "Genes", scientists from CLC bio along with Michael M. Miyamoto from the University of Florida published an article with corresponding free software for simulating de novo assemblies.

5 Oct 2010

NIEHS awards grant to study environmental impact on genetic information

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has awarded $2.27 million to Indiana University researcher Joseph Shaw for a five-year study of how the environment alters genetic information through mutation and natural selection.

5 Oct 2010

UCLA receives contract to study proteins involved in cardiovascular disease development

UCLA has received a five-year, $12.5 million contract award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to spearhead an international consortium of medical experts that will study proteins that may be involved in the development of cardiovascular disease.

4 Oct 2010

GATC Biotech to apply Illumina's HiSeq 2000 for human genome analysis

Within the next four years GATC Biotech plans to analyse 100,000 human genomes in particular for the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry as well as for academic research. This will be realised by applying Illumina's HiSeq 2000 as well as GATC Biotech's latest acquisition, the single molecule sequencing platform PacBio RS.

28 Sep 2010

Tel Aviv researchers develop innovative software to analyze and manipulate diseased cells

About ten years ago, the discovery of microRNAs ― tiny cellular molecules that regulate our genetic code ― unlocked a world of scientific possibilities, including a deeper understanding of human disease. One new analytical technology is "deep sequencing," which gives scientists the ability to discover invaluable information about human diseases at a genetic level.

28 Sep 2010

Researchers identify mechanism that makes bacteria to resist antibiotics

A research team led by Edward Yu of Iowa State University and the Ames Laboratory has discovered the crystal structures of pumps that remove heavy metal toxins from bacteria, making them resistant to antibiotics.

24 Sep 2010

MIDAS researchers continue to model how H1N1 may spread

As the United States prepares for the upcoming flu season, a group of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health continues to model how H1N1 may spread.

22 Sep 2010

Synthetic lethality boosts effectiveness of molecularly targeted therapies against tumors

Molecularly targeted therapies can reduce tumors rapidly. However, not all tumors respond to the drugs, and even those that do often develop resistance over time. Looking for a way to combat the problem of resistance, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center hypothesized that hitting already weakened cancer cells with a second targeted agent could kill them-but only if it was the right second agent.

22 Sep 2010

Study demonstrates why targeted therapies do not work in majority of people

In order for targeted therapies against cancer to be effective, scientists need to understand upfront what related proteins in a signaling "network" makes a cancer cell resistant to a drug and selectively target them as well, say researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Fox Chase Cancer Center.

22 Sep 2010

NIGMS director wins 2011 ASBMB Public Service Award

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has named Jeremy M. Berg, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the winner of the nonprofit's 2011 ASBMB Howard K. Schachman Public Service Award. Berg will receive the award this evening at an ASBMB Public Affairs Advisory Committee meeting in Arlington, Va.

21 Sep 2010

ICF International awarded re-compete contract to provide IT, scientific support services to NCTR

ICF International, a leading provider of consulting services and technology solutions to government and commercial clients, has been awarded a $31.8 million re-compete contract by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to provide information technology and scientific support services to the National Center for Toxicological Research.

20 Sep 2010

CINJ, NJDHSS partner to create Center of Excellence for Cancer Surveillance

A new partnership between The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state's only National Cancer Institute -designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services will create a Center of Excellence for Cancer Surveillance to help track, examine, prevent and control cancer. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

18 Sep 2010

Researchers develop ChIP Enrichment Analysis to identify drug targets, biomarkers

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have developed a new computational method that will help streamline the analysis of gene expression experiments and provide scientists with a better mechanistic understanding of the differences between diseased and normal cells. The new database and software, called ChIP Enrichment Analysis (ChEA), will revolutionize how researchers identify drug targets and biomarkers.

16 Sep 2010

Ion Torrent extends deadline for European Ion PGM Sequencer Grant Program

Ion Torrent today announced that the deadline for the Ion Personal Genome Machine (PGM™) Sequencer Grant Program in Europe has been extended to Nov. 22 to give more scientists the opportunity to win a DNA sequencer for their own labs.

15 Sep 2010