• The Human Microbiome: Me, Myself, Us

    The Economist | Looking at human beings not just as individuals but as ecosystems that contain trillions of collaborating and competing microbial species could change the practice of medicine. 

    Aug 16, 2012

  • Is the Better Benchtop DNA Sequencer Losing the Marketing War?

    Forbes.com | According to an analyst at Macquarie Equities Research, in the battle of benchtop sequencers the Ion Torrent PGM is outselling the Illumina MiSeq by several hundred units, even though researchers tend to favor the MiSeq's technical performance. One reason might be that the PGM is $50,000 cheaper than the MiSeq. 

     

    Aug 15, 2012

  • How the FDA Stymies Progress -- and How to Get Around It

    The Skeptical Outsider GUEST COMMENTARY| Are cells taken from your body and then returned to it “drugs”? They are, according to a recent court ruling that granted the FDA an injunction against the developers of an adult stem cell therapy. And that doesn't sit well with Bill Frezza.

    Aug 13, 2012

  • Found in Translation: Where Do Cures Come From?

    The Guardian | In this opinion piece, Jenny Rohn asks, What's the best way of doing research? Throwing money at bright minds or trying to solve a particular problem? Or is there a third way? 

    Aug 13, 2012

  • Researchers Germinate Novel Approach to Big Bio Data

    Datanami | C. Titus Brown heads MSU’s lab for Genomics, Evolution, and Development, which recently undertook the task of researching large collections of metagenomics data. The project was so complex that Brown’s team had to fashion a solution to solve a specific problem.

    Aug 10, 2012

  • Eric Schadt: Why Biology Needs a Steve Jobs

    Nature Biotechnology | Eric Schadt, director of Mount Sinai's new Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, discusses his vision to spend $100 million launching Mount Sinai to the forefront of the genomics revolution—and why he's enlisting Wall Street quants, user interface gurus and Facebook's former data whiz to do it.

    Aug 9, 2012

  • Nic Volker, Living on the Edge of Science

    JS Online | Two years after exome sequencing prompted a life-saving cord blood transplant, 7-year-old Wisconsinite Nic Volker is enjoying school, real food, good health and life in general. 

    Aug 9, 2012

  • Clinical Trial is Favorable for Microarray Prenatal Gene Test

    New York Times | The use of microarrays for prenatal testing to detect more genetic problems in a fetus than standard kayrotype testing could be headed toward wider use after encouraging results from an NIH-sponsored clinical trial of more than 4,000 pregnancies.  

    Aug 9, 2012

  • Physicians May Not Be Social, But They are Interactive

    Forbes.com | The desire to understand physician behavior, identify Key Opinion Leaders, and reach those influencers in a measured way is of extreme importance to pharmaceutical executives, writes Jim Golden in his latest blog.  

    Aug 9, 2012

  • CardioDx Wins Medicare OK of Molecular Test for Heart Disease

    Xconomy | After three years marketing a new genetic test that can tell when a patient’s chest pain is a sign of serious heart disease, CardioDX has taken a big step forward by persuading Palmetto GBA, the national contractor for Medicare, to reimburse the company for its Corus CAD test.

    Aug 8, 2012

  • Congratulations on Reaching the $1000 Genome

    PolITigenomics | For all intents and purposes, argues David Dooling, we have already achieved the $1,000 human genome -- compared to the $1 billion or spent on the first human genome, the difference between $1,000 and $5,000 is just a rounding error. "So, congratulations, we did it!"

    Aug 6, 2012

  • Quinten’s Savoir Faire Approach to Data Mining

    Bio-IT World | Quinten, a rapidly expanding French CRO, brings an innovative data-mining approach to much of the drug development pipeline – from early stage target identification to clinical trials and patient stratification. Here, Kevin Davies interviews Quinten CEO Alexandre Templier. 

    Aug 3, 2012

  • Drug Discovery Looks for Its Next Fix

    HPC Wire | Supercomputing shows great promise to improve the process of drug discovery, not only to find better, safer drugs, but also to weed out those compounds that would eventually fail during clinical trials. 

    Aug 3, 2012

  • Five Steps for Handling your Big Data Hoard

    Enterprise CIO Forum | Decades ago, valued data was handled in a very manual and individual manner. But the explosion of data sources has made most people hoarders, without a plan to leverage the value. 

    Aug 3, 2012

  • Russian Web Tycoon Launches World's Biggest Science Prize

    The Guardian | Yuri Milner, a Russian internet investor who quit his PhD in physics and made $1 billion investing in social networking firms such as Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, has launched a clutch of awards worth $3 million apiece to recognise advances in fundamental physics.

    Jul 31, 2012

  • 23andMe Seeks FDA Approval for Personal DNA Test

    Bloomberg Businessweek | Consumer genetics pioneer 23andMe has taken the first step towards seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of its personalized DNA test.  

    Jul 30, 2012

  • Sharp Dip in US Drug Approvals Forecast

    Pharma Times | The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will approve fewer novel drugs in 2012 than it did last year, as the industry faces a number of ongoing operational risks, according to a new report.

    Jul 30, 2012

  • A New Chapter for the Consumer Genetics Conference

    Bio-IT World | Asked what prompted her to launch The Consumer Genetics Conference (CGC) three years ago, together with her friend John Boyce, Meredith Salisbury says simply, “Insanity.” Coming to their senses, the duo have partnered with CHI to produce the 2012 conference, which will be held October 3-5, 2012. 

    Jul 27, 2012

  • Complete Genomics Bundles Ingenuity Variant Analysis software

    Bio-IT World | Complete Genomics announced that it will bundle Ingenuity Systems’ Variant Analysis application with its research whole genome sequencing services.

    Jul 26, 2012

  • John Reynders on the Role of R&D Information at AstraZeneca

    Bio-IT World | In his current role as head of R&D Information at AstraZeneca, John Reynders discusses the breadth of skills among his 400-strong team and the company’s commitment to innovation and long-range strategic planning. 

    Jul 24, 2012