• The Unstable Equilibrium of the Bioinformatics Org Chart

    Bio-IT World  | In most organizations, the human resources of bioinformatics are a regular source of tension. Unless you’re particularly lucky, you can be plagued by politics, illogical decision making, disappointment, and low productivity. While you can have these problems in a properly-balanced organization, there are certain org charts in which they are endemic. 

    Jan 11, 2012

  • Ion Torrent Introduces New Sequencer, Touts Imminent Arrival of the $1,000 Genome

    Reuters | Life Technologies, the parent company of Ion Torrent Systems, says it is taking orders for the new benchtop Ion Proton Sequencer, which it predicts will have the capacity in the next 12 months to deliver a $1,000 human genome in a day. 

    Jan 10, 2012

  • Knome’s New CEO Signals New Directions in Genome Interpretation

    Bio-IT World | Knome, the first company to offer direct-to-consumer genome analysis, has appointed neurologist and biotech executive Martin Tolar as its new CEO as it seeks to push further into two prime markets for genome interpretation software -- biopharma and clinical genomics.

    Jan 7, 2012

  • 2012 Best Practices Deadline Extension

    Bio-IT World | Bio-IT World is announcing a deadline extension for its 2012 Best Practices awards program. In keeping with extensions given in previous years, the 2012 extended deadline is February 15.

    Jan 8, 2012

  • BGI Crunches Human Genome With GPU Chips

    Wired.com | China's BGI, the world's largest genome sequencing center, has switched to servers that use GPUs built by Nvidia, helping slash the genome analysis time by more than an order of magnitude. But challenges in data representation and interpretation remain.

    Jan 7, 2012

  • Pacific Biosciences Taps ex-ABI Chief Michael Hunkapiller as New CEO

    Bio-IT World | Pacific Biosciences has appointed former Applied Biosystems CEO Michael W. Hunkapiller as its president and CEO effective immediately, succeeding founding CEO Hugh Martin, in an effort to buoy the next-gen sequencing company's business. 

     

    Jan 6, 2012

  • More 2012 Big Ideas

    Wired | Wired magazine has 25 big ideas for 2012--everything from wireless cars to predicting Facebook's next move to sousveillance. In life sciences, the predictions center around epigenetics and microfluidics.

     

    Jan 5, 2012

  • Predictions for Supercomputing 2012

    Bio-IT World | Guest Commentary | As we welcome 2012, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we are entering a new golden age of high performance computing (HPC) that will drive progress and growth in many other fields. The reason for this is profound: the capabilities of the world’s largest computers running in research facilities, laboratories, and educational institutions, have crossed an important threshold, and we are moving from the information age to the “knowledge age.” With that, here are my ten predictions for high performance computing in the coming year. 

    Jan 4, 2012

  • Texas Genomic Medicine Institute Comes Under Scrutiny

    The Eagle | Six years after Texas Governor Rick Perry created the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine (TIGM) with a $50 million grant promising to attract thousands of new jobs, the institute employs just nine people.

    Jan 3, 2012

  • Eric Lander: Bravery and Optimism

    New York Times | Eric Lander's Ph.D. in mathematics has taken a back seat to his career in molecular biology, medicine, and genomics as the founding director of the Broad Institute, science advisor to President Obama, and PI. His success can be attributed to two characteristics, says an old friend: bravery combined with optimism.

    Jan 2, 2012

  • 2012 Predictions for Biotech and Medicine

    Forbes | It's the season for soothsaying, and Forbes' Matthew Herper has a few predictions for biotech and medicine. Among them: super-expensive drugs, a tough environment for medical devices, and the stalling of health information technology. Cheery 

    Dec 30, 2011

  • The Perfect Pair: Drugs and Companion Diagnostics

    New York Times | More and more often, the FDA is requiring personalized drugs to have companion diagnostic tests associated with them before approval. The trend has prompted some awkward partnerships in drug discovery.

    Dec 28, 2011

  • Mayo Clinic Plans to Sequence Patients' Genomes for Personalized Medicine

    The Guardian | The Mayo Clinic will launch a pilot study early next year to sequence the genomes of thousands of volunteers in a landmark project to personalize their medical care by allowing doctors to prescribe more effective drugs and other therapies.

    Dec 28, 2011

  • Korean Researchers Identify Gene Fusion Linked to Lung Cancer

    Bio-IT World | Researchers in South Korea have identified a previously unknown gene fusion event that could explain a significant proportion of lung cancer cases in never-smokers, and might serve as a target for new therapies. The results were published online today in Genome Research. 

    Dec 22, 2011

  • BGI Uses GPU-Accelerated Genomics

    HPC Wire | BGI is using GPU-accelerated computing to process its genomics data. Thanks to NVIDIA GPUs , BGI is able to sequence 6 trillion base pairs per day and have a stored database totaling 20 PB.

    Dec 21, 2011

  • Should Journals Describe How Scientists Made a Killer Flu?

    TIME | This week, the U.S. government did an unprecedented thing by asking two premier research journals, Nature and Science, not to publish the details of Dutch experiments on a genetically engineered, highly tranmissible H5N1 virus, for fear that the information could fall into the wrong hands and be used to create a bioweapon.

    Dec 21, 2011

  • Genomics Gift Guide: Neanderthal Test

    Discovery Magazine | 23andMe is offering a Neanderthal genomic test this holiday season to help identify what percentage of your genome comes frm Neanderthal ancestors. 

    Dec 20, 2011

  • CDISC and IMI Sign Standards Agreement

    Bio-IT World  | The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI) and the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) have signed an agreement and initiated activities to enhance the use of information gathered for the purpose of developing safer, more effective innovative medicines for patients.    

     

    Dec 19, 2011

  • Microsoft's Evolution

    Wired | Of course Microsft is a cloud company, says Kurt DelBene, but the question keeps coming up. The software giant acknowledges the move to the cloud--and has cloud products to prove it--but still believes its customers need and value desktop and server software. 

    Dec 14, 2011

  • Speeding Up Cancer Trials

    Bio-IT World | The Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) has been able to accelerate the clinical trials process by making improvements to trial start-up and enrollment as well as patient accrual for oncology clinical trials run through the Consortium. MMRC presented the data yesterday in an oral presentation at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. 

    Dec 14, 2011