• Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics Forge Deal on Gene Editing for Rare Disease

    Xconomy | In the latest major partnership around gene editing therapies based on CRISPR-Cas9 technology, Vertex is investing $105 million upfront in CRISPR Therapeutics, to support programs in cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, among other conditions.

    Oct 26, 2015

  • With Revolocity, Complete Genomics Eyes New Markets for DNA Sequencing

    Bio-IT World | Since being purchased by BGI, Complete Genomics has scrapped its sequencing-as-a-service business and shifted to manufacturing instruments. Although its first product, Revolocity, won't make any headway in the established research market, CEO Cliff Reid believes he's getting in on the ground floor of clinical sequencing, with a pitch for large healthcare organizations ready to take a chance on population genomics.

    Oct 23, 2015

  • 23andMe Will Resume Giving Users Health Data

    The New York Times | The genetic-testing company stopped providing health information in 2013 after the F.D.A. ordered it to prove the accuracy of results. Now it will provide carrier status for 36 diseases with FDA approval. The carrier status reports are part of the company's new "user experience", which includes more than 60 reports on health, ancestry, wellness, and personal traits and proprietary tools. Existing customers will be transitioned to the new experience as soon as possible, the company said.

    Oct 21, 2015

  • The latest DIY biotech hot spot? The local library.

    Washington Post | A public library in San Diego is home to what may be the world's first biotech laboratory-in-a-library.

    Oct 20, 2015

  • A Mystery Machine That Sculpts the Genome

    The Atlantic | New evidence from studies of genome folding and predictive models lends strong support to the hypothesis that the cell contains an "extrusion complex," a piece of molecular machinery that shapes genome architecture by forming DNA loops in predictable — and controllable — patterns.

    Oct 20, 2015

  • Dovetail Genomics Launches Genome Assembly Service with Twist on Hi-C Method

    Bio-IT World | Several research groups have reported that the Hi-C technique, developed to study the 3D architecture of chromosomes, can be repurposed to assemble genomes de novo. Now, Dovetail Genomics has taken the next step with a service promising high-contiguity genomes with standard, short-read Illumina sequencers.

    Oct 20, 2015

  • Richard F. Heck Chemist Who Revolutionized Drug Development Dies at 84

    The New York Times | Dr. Heck shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for creating techniques to synthesize complex carbon molecules that are now used to make drugs, electronics and other products.

    Oct 16, 2015

  • The cloud changes IT culture demands new tech skills

    Computerworld | Moving to the Cloud is changing more than just data location. It's changing everything about the skills IT workers need to do their jobs and what those jobs entail.

    Oct 15, 2015

  • 23andMe Caps a Year of Recovery with a $115 Million Funding Round

    Forbes | With a drug discovery business, an FDA-cleared test, and a new valuation at over $1 billions, 23andMe is once again on the upswing, writes Matthew Herper.

    Oct 14, 2015

  • The Social Face of Genetics at the American Society of Human Genetics Meeting

    Bio-IT World | The annual meeting of the ASHG convened last week in Baltimore, in the midst of a new Precision Medicine Initiative that aims to collect one million patients' genomes and medical records into a national cohort. As NIH Director Francis Collins spoke about the possibilities and social responsibilities of that project, ASHG President Neil Risch reflected on past and ongoing misuses of genetics, and a panel of science journalists considered how scientists can best engage the public, build trust, and help non-professionals wrangle with the real-world implications of new discoveries.

    Oct 14, 2015

  • Elizabeth Parrish CEO of BioViva Claims to Undergo Anti-Aging Therapy

    MIT Technology Review | An American woman claims she is the first to undergo gene therapy to reverse aging. Judge for yourself.

    Oct 14, 2015

  • New Products and Announcements at the American Society of Human Genetics Meeting

    Bio-IT World | Companies including Illumina, Complete Genomics, Pacific Biosciences, Invitae, QIAGEN, and DNAnexus gathered this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics in Baltimore to show off their latest products and services.

    Oct 9, 2015

  • Amazon wants companies to get onto its cloud using new services

    Computerworld | Amazon launched a handful of new services all aimed at getting companies onto its cloud platform Wednesday, including a new ruggedized box for shipping data to the cloud provider.

    Oct 9, 2015

  • Estonia Is Embracing Personalized Medicine With Its DNA Biobank

    The Atlantic | The country's genetic biobank is still in its earliest stages, but the government hopes to one day have enough donors to totally overhaul its health-care system.

    Oct 9, 2015

  • GENALICE Launches Population Calling Analysis Module

    Bio-IT World In a live webinar today, GENALICE launched the Population Calling analysis module to their GENALICE MAP Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Data Analysis Suite. In partnership with Mount Sinai Hospital, Amazon Web Services, and Intel, GENALICE processed the whole genomes of 800 patients from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), an Alzheimer’s disease cohort during the webinar.

    Oct 8, 2015

  • GSK Updates on Social Media Tracking

    MobiHealthNews | GlaxoSmithKline and Epidemico won a 2015 Bio-IT World Best Practices award last year for ProjectCRAWL, an effort to survey social media to alert GSK to adverse events. Yesterday, GSK's director of pharmacovigilance gave an update on how the pharma is using Epidemico's data.

    Oct 6, 2015

  • With Cleversafe buy IBM zeroes in on unstructured data

    Computerworld | IBM will acquire object-based storage vendor Cleversafe in a move to bolster its cloud business unit with more flexibility and simplified management options in the hybrid cloud, it announced on Monday.

    Oct 5, 2015

  • Can the New Google Have a Long and Productive Life?

    MIT Technology Review | To truly change the world, Google's new holding company will need something that has eluded many previous industrial labs: an effective commercialization strategy.

    Oct 2, 2015

  • A Worthy Sequel: PacBio's New Sequencing System

    Bio-IT World | Pacific Biosciences has released a new genome sequencing instrument, the Sequel — providing the first-in-class whole genome assemblies of its predecessor the RS II, but much faster and at half the cost. But the company's underlying problems, pitching high quality in a price-sensitive market, are not much changed.

    Oct 1, 2015

  • With $55M Neon Wants To Make the Cancer Vaccine Problem Personal

    Xconomy | Neon Therapeutics hopes to harness the body's immune system against the genetic fingerprints of tumors, creating a new kind of cancer vaccine.

    Oct 1, 2015