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SAIC-Frederick and Roche collaborate on technology advancements in sequencing cancer genes

National Cancer Institute contractor SAIC-Frederick, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation, and Roche Applied Science, a division of Roche Diagnostics Corporation, have signed a collaboration agreement to assess Roche’s advanced technologies to sequence the genomes of cancer research samples.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 29 Sep 2009

Scarab Genomics releases new E. Coli strain

ScarabXpress is the latest strain in the multiple-deletion series (MDS) of Scarab Genomics Clean Genome® E. coli. Based on the MDS™42 strain, ScarabXpress T7lac contains a chromosomal copy of the T7 RNA polymerase gene expressed from a unique, tightly controlled lac promoter.

29 Sep 2009

NHGRI and NIMH fund $45 million to establish Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), both part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced grants expected to total approximately $45 million to establish new Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science at the Medical College of Wisconsin and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as well as to continue support of existing centers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California.

29 Sep 2009

NIH awards Johns Hopkins Epigenetic Center $16.8M to advance genomics research

Johns Hopkins' Center for the Epigenetics of Common Human Disease has been chosen as one of four recipients of a $45 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for Centers of Excellence to advance genomics research. The Hopkins Center will receive $16.8 million over five years.

29 Sep 2009

NHGRI announces grant to establish Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health today announced an $8 million, three-year grant to establish a Wisconsin Center of Excellence in Genomics Science.

29 Sep 2009

UNC awarded $8.6M for a new Center for Integrated Systems Genetics

Autism, depression, anxiety. Antipsychotic drug side effects. What are the genetic and environmental factors that underlie and contribute to these complex problems? And how do genes and environment interact to shape them?

28 Sep 2009

New scalable solutions for targeted re-sequencing studies from febit holding and Life Technologies

febit holding GmbH and Life Technologies Corporation today announced that they have entered into a strategic co-marketing agreement to provide a new, scalable solution for researchers conducting targeted re-sequencing studies. In addition, febit will expand its Genomic Services Facility at Heidelberg by adding several Applied Biosystems SOLiD™ high-throughput sequencing systems and real-time PCR systems.

28 Sep 2009

Illumina to defend Genome Analyzer System patent infringement suit

Illumina, Inc. today announced that it has been served with a complaint filed on September 21, 2009 in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware naming Illumina as a defendant. The complaint names as plaintiffs Life Technologies Corporation; Applied Biosystems LLC; a Russian research institute; two individuals listed as inventors on the asserted patents; and another individual who appears to have an ownership interest in the patents.

From Illumina, Inc. 28 Sep 2009

Study on how epigenetic changes contribute to congnitive decline

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Rush University Medical Center approximately $5.5 million in grants to study how epigenetic changes - chemical modifications to genes that result from diet, aging, stress, or environmental exposures - define and contribute to memory formation and cognitive decline. Results from the studies could profoundly alter the way the medical community understands, diagnoses, and treats Alzheimer's disease, according to the researchers.

28 Sep 2009

Central metabolic network model of Thermotoga maritima bacterium developed

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and other institutions have constructed a complete model, including three dimensional protein structures, of the central metabolic network of the bacterium Thermotoga maritima (T. maritima).

25 Sep 2009

Researchers develop molecule to confuse insects' ability to detect plants

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published this week in Chemical Communications, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

25 Sep 2009

Research to develop small-molecule drug that blocks excess iron absorption

Excess iron in the body, if left unchecked, can form toxic deposits in major organs leading to serious conditions including heart failure, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, arthritis, and even infertility. Iron overload can be a consequence of a genetically mutated gene known as hereditary hemochromatosis, or a consequence of red blood cell transfusions, required as life saving treatments, for patients with diseases such as thalassemia.

25 Sep 2009

Clostridium difficile's five genetic regions identified

Five genetic regions have been identified that are unique to the most virulent strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), the hospital superbug. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology studied the genome of the bacterium, looking for genes relating to motility, antibiotic resistance and toxicity.

25 Sep 2009

Direct RNA sequencing performed using Helicos’ True Single Molecule Sequencing technology

Helicos BioSciences Corporation a life science company focused on innovative genetic analysis technologies, today announced the publication of a landmark study in which Helicos’ True Single Molecule Sequencing (tSMS)™ technology was used to directly sequence individual molecules of RNA. The paper appeared yesterday in the on-line edition of Nature and will appear in an upcoming 2009 print issue of Nature.

24 Sep 2009

Research to identify inborn genetic susceptibility to colon cancer metastasis

A prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Transformative R01 Program grant for $4.9 million has been awarded to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The five-year grant will fund research to identify patients' inborn genetic susceptibility to the development of colon cancer metastasis. Case Western Reserve was one of only 42 recipients of this competitive new grant designed to support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research projects that have the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms.

24 Sep 2009

TSPs can block cancer-triggering proto-oncogenes

A tiny bit of genetic material with no previously known function may hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine and Sichuan University in Chengdu, China report in two papers in the September 7-11 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

24 Sep 2009

Genetic variation helps identify hepatitis C infected people, according to a study

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers are part of an international team that has discovered a genetic variation that could identify those people infected with hepatitis C who are most likely to benefit from current treatments.

24 Sep 2009

Agilent Technologies introduces SureSelect Human All Exon Kit

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) has chosen the Cambridge Health Institute’s Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis conference today to introduce its SureSelect Human All Exon Kit for target enrichment prior to next-generation DNA sequencing.

23 Sep 2009

Agilent Technologies and Applied Biosystems to co-market SureSelect system

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) and Applied Biosystems, part of Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE), today introduced the Agilent SureSelect Target Enrichment System, which is optimized for the SOLiD™ System, a next-generation advanced genomic analysis sequencing platform.

23 Sep 2009

NIH funding helps to boost sales of DNA sequencers

Rapid increase in output from second-generation DNA sequencers has enabled new levels of productivity and new experiments. This, along with funding from the stimulus bill, has caused rapid adoption of these machines, according to healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information, helping to fuel sales of DNA sequencers to $480 million in 2008. In its report "DNA Sequencing Equipment and Services Markets, 2nd Edition," Kalorama says more changes are on the way and will drives sales growth of 19% annually through 2013.

23 Sep 2009