• Verge Genomics Raises $4 Million with Help from Y Combinator

    TechCrunch | One of several biotechs recently backed by tech accelerator Y Combinator, Verge Genomics has closed a $4 million seed round to follow leads from its predictive algorithms for drug repurposing in neurological disease.

    Nov 4, 2015

  • MinION Sequencing Untangles RNA Transcripts in a Difficult Gene

    Bio-IT World | The Graveley lab at the University of Connecticut has demonstrated that the handheld MinION nanopore sequencer can distinguish between RNA isoforms in Dscam1, the most alternatively spliced gene known to science.

    Nov 3, 2015

  • IBM pumps up its hybrid-cloud muscle with Gravitant buy

    Computerworld | IBM bought Gravitant, a maker of brokerage software designed ease the purchase and management of software and services across mixed cloud platforms.

    Nov 3, 2015

  • Tute’s Knome-Powered Vision for an Integrated Genomics Vertical

    Bio-IT World  | Tute Genomics announced this morning that the company has acquired Knome, one of the earliest players in the consumer genomics space. The acquisition will further develop Tute’s genomics analysis pipeline in pursuit of an integrated genomics analysis product.

    Nov 2, 2015

  • Storify: Should Whole Genome Sequencing Be the Standard for Rare Disease?

    Bio-IT World | Elizabeth Worthey's comment that families affected by rare disease should push for whole genome sequencing has bioinformatics Twitter abuzz today, with a passionate and detailed debate about the best use of healthcare resources in the pursuit of a genetic diagnosis.

    Nov 2, 2015

  • End of the Line for Knome with Acquisition by Tute Genomics

    Xconomy | After eight years, more than $20 million raised, and an assortment of different business plans, Massachusetts genomics firm Knome has been acquired by tiny Tute Genomics of Utah.

    Nov 2, 2015

  • October News and Product Briefs

    Bio-IT World | News and product releases from around the industry, including a CDC test of the Edico DRAGEN processor and new CRISPR partnerships.

    Oct 30, 2015

  • A Moore’s Law Mystery

    The Last Word On Nothing | Was Moore's Law originally developed as a marketing ploy for Intel?

    Oct 30, 2015

  • Direct Genomics' New Clinical Sequencer Revives a Forgotten DNA Technology

    Bio-IT World | At Direct Genomics in Shenzhen, He Jiankui is bringing back the sequencing technology of the defunct Helicos Biosciences to build a new DNA sequencer for the clinic, promising targeted diagnostic tests with minimal sample preparation and low input requirements.

    Oct 29, 2015

  • BGI Retools Complete Genomics Technology for Its New High-Throughput Benchtop Sequencer

    Bio-IT World | The BGISEQ-500, using a dramatically reengineered version of Complete Genomics' "DNA nanoball" sequencing, is designed to compete with Illumina's NextSeq instruments on both price and throughput — at least in the Chinese markets where it is being made available next year.

    Oct 28, 2015

  • TGAC Unleashes DRAGEN to Accelerate Genomics Workflows

    HPCwire | Accelerating genomics analysis remains one of the toughest challenges in life science research. All manner of optimizations are in use - disk streaming, op

    Oct 28, 2015

  • SwiftStack Announces Version 3.0

    Bio-IT World News Brief | Today at the OpenStack Summit in Tokyo, SwiftStack released version 3.0 of its software with new features that extend the benefits of object storage to enterprise applications.

    Oct 26, 2015

  • Bio-IT World Best Practices Call for Entries Open

    Bio-IT World Bio-IT World is accepting entries to the 2016 Bio-IT World Best Practices competition. For the past thirteen years, the Bio-IT World Best Practices Awards have highlighted outstanding examples of innovations and partnerships serving as powerful forces for change in the life sciences.

    Oct 26, 2015

  • 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