Whole Genome Sequencing News and Research

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Travelers to the tropics are more prone to acquiring superbacteria than previously thought

Exploring exposure to superbacteria, researchers at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital got unexpected results from an international collaborative study conducted in real time among 20 travelers to Southeast Asia.

24 Feb 2021

Large-scale whole genome sequencing in the Middle Eastern population reveals genetic risk factors

A group of researchers at Qatar Foundation have reported the first and largest genetic association study in the Middle East, that has been published online in Nature Communications - a leading a peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journal published by Nature Research.

23 Feb 2021

More diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants identified within infected children than in adults

A new study describes the identification of multiple circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 during this early pandemic period from Asia and Europe. In addition, there were multiple local introductions of different variants, that resulted in multiple waves of transmission.

23 Feb 2021

WVU researchers set to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants, mitigate strain outbreaks

West Virginia University scientists knew it was coming. When health officials confirmed the first three cases of a COVID-19 variant in West Virginia late Friday (Feb. 19), they were not surprised.

22 Feb 2021

Highly sensitive blood test for cancer wins 2021 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award

Cancer biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine have been awarded a 2021 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum for their study last year describing a highly sensitive blood test for monitoring cancer progression and relapse.

20 Feb 2021

Mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 mutations reduce antibody effectiveness

A new preprint research paper posted to the bioRxiv* server shows that these mutations disrupt inhibition by neutralizing antibodies, both natural and therapeutic.

16 Feb 2021

LifeArc supports the GenOMICC COVID-19 Study

Medical research charity, LifeArc, announces today that it is providing £5 million funding to support the work of the GenOMICC COVID-19 Study, led by the GenOMICC consortium in partnership with Genomics England.

15 Feb 2021

Scientists publish new analysis of most diverse genetic data set

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and their colleagues published a new analysis today in the journal Nature from genetic sequencing data of more than 53,000 individuals, primarily from minority populations.

10 Feb 2021

Genomic study suggests SARS-CoV-2 clade 20C was imported into Japan from the US

A new study describes the outcome of such sequencing efforts in Japan as an important tool towards containing the spread of the infection.

3 Feb 2021

A traditional Chinese medicine could help treat COVID‐19 symptoms

A team of researchers in China – at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine – recently explored the therapeutic properties of Yinqiao powder in treating COVID-19 symptoms. Their findings were recently published in Phytotherapy Research.

22 Jan 2021

New computational technique accurately differentiates between data from tumor cells and normal cells

In an effort to address a major challenge when analyzing large single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new computational technique to accurately differentiate between data from cancer cells and the variety of normal cells found within tumor samples.

18 Jan 2021

What are the SARS-CoV-2 exposure risks for workers on mink farms?

A new study reports on the risk of COVID-19 among workers on these farms, and in the communities living around such farms.

15 Jan 2021

Concern develops over Brazilian SARS-CoV-2 variant

Concern is being expressed over a variant of SARS-CoV-2 that shows similar mutations to the South African and UK variants of the disease.

15 Jan 2021

Mosaic mutations during embryonic development can cause autism spectrum disorder

Two studies in today's Nature Neuroscience, led by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Harvard Medical School (HMS), implicate mosaic mutations arising during embryonic development as a cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings open new areas for exploring the genetics of ASD and could eventually inform diagnostic testing.

11 Jan 2021

COVID-19 spread in cities driven by socioeconomically weaker groups, study finds

Researchers in Sweden have conducted a study showing that the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) within cities is driven by socioeconomically weaker and high-mobility groups. They used Basel, Switzerland as their case study.

21 Dec 2020

Trump’s wrong. 15% ‘herd immunity’ is not on par with strength of a vaccine

During a Dec. 8 press conference about Operation Warp Speed, President Donald Trump likened the spread of the coronavirus throughout the population — which experts agree bestows some immunity on the people who became ill — to having a COVID-19 vaccine.

15 Dec 2020

Study finds surprising link between ALS, FTD and Huntington's disease-associated mutation

A study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health has made a surprising connection between frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), two disorders of the nervous system, and the genetic mutation normally understood to cause Huntington's disease.

5 Dec 2020

Researchers receive $8.3 million NIH grant to illuminate the causes of spina bifida

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, have been awarded a five-year, $8.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to further illuminate the causes of spina bifida, the most common structural defect of the central nervous system.

20 Nov 2020

UV light induces new types of DNA damage that may cause malignant melanoma

Studies conducted in yeast show that exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) induces new types of DNA damage that may cause the deadliest form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma.

17 Nov 2020

Sanger Institute and COG-UK get £12.2M funding to build genomic surveillance system for COVID-19

The Department for Health and Social Care Testing Innovation Fund has backed the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium in expanding whole genome sequencing of positive SARS-CoV-2 virus samples to map how COVID-19 spreads and evolves.

16 Nov 2020