• Charles River Labs Acquires Distributed Bio

    Bio-IT World | Charles River Laboratories acquired Distributed Bio on December 31, 2020. The acquisition marks the culmination of an exclusive partnership between these companies that was initiated in October 2018.

    Jan 6, 2021

  • Bizarre Effects Of Sound Waves Could Benefit Drug Delivery, Exosome Therapy

    Bio-IT World | Scientists at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed a nebulizer for delivering drugs and vaccines to the lungs by generating high-frequency sound waves on a microchip. Serendipitously, the device generates droplets “just the right size”—between 1 and 5 microns—for large molecules such as DNA and antibodies to reach the deep lungs.

    Jan 6, 2021

  • WGS Market Foothold, New Life Sciences Doc Management, Algorithm For Neoantigen ID, More

    Bio-IT World | Illumina and Harvard Pilgrim announce risk sharing for whole genome sequencing, new cryo-EM from Thermo Fisher, LSBio acquires Absolute Antibody, Presearch digitizes hand-written lab notes, and more.

    Jan 4, 2021

  • Google Wades Into Controversy with Dismissal of AI Ethicist Timnit Gebru

    Bio-IT World | Google got ensnared in a controversy over AI ethics when it let go its AI ethicist Timnit Gebru in a dispute over a research paper on large language models she had submitted to a conference.

    Dec 30, 2020

  • Top Stories of 2020: Pharma’s Digital Plan, Data Commons, AI and Quantum Computing. And COVID-19

    Bio-IT World | While much of the biotech and life sciences fields shifted to focus energy and efforts into understanding SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, these weren’t the year’s only developments. This year Bio-IT World has covered growing data commons efforts, announced our annual Innovative Practices Award winners, looked at how Big Pharma is doing data science, delved into COVID-19 updates, and much more.

    Dec 29, 2020

  • Musings on the Pros and Cons of Apache Airflow

    Bio-IT World | TRENDS FROM THE TRENCHES—We are routinely asked questions about Apache Airflow: when to use it, how to get the most out of it, and what to watch out for. Here’s why The BioTeam believes Apache Airflow is one of the most critical tools in the toolbox of a data scientist.

    Dec 22, 2020

  • Follow the Money: Spatial Omics, CAR-NK Cells, AI-Powered Biology

    Bio-IT World | Funding updates around the life sciences including cash for a handheld mass spec device, Series D for oncolytic immunotherapy, a new company launch in allogenic CAR-NK cells, AI-powered cell classification, a 3-D sequencing platform, and more.

    Dec 21, 2020

  • Immunai Joins 10x To Scale Single Cell Genomics

    Bio-IT World | Immunai has announced its collaboration with 10x Genomics as one of the first 10x Certified Service Providers. Immunai will leverage 10x’s robust single-cell technologies to map hundreds of cell types and states. By applying its proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Immunai supports biomarker discovery and insight generation to ultimately power new therapeutic discoveries and accelerate drug development.

    Dec 21, 2020

  • Mortality Data For 25-44 Year Olds, Characteristics of High and Low Viral Cases: COVID-19 Updates

    Bio-IT World | Human “helper proteins” aiding the virus, genes linked with disease severity, the potency of neutralizing antibodies, and AI system identifying drugs. Plus: PacBio and Labcorp generate 65,000 genomes and funding from Germany and DARPA.

    Dec 18, 2020

  • Emedgene Automated Interpretation Software Integrated Into Illumina TruSight Software Suite

    Bio-IT World | Emedgene has announced a non-exclusive partnership with Illumina and the integration of automated interpretation into Illumina's TruSight Software Suite for rare genetic diseases. Emedgene's Clinical Rare Disease application is one of a portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered applications for high-throughput genomic interpretation across clinical and research use cases.

    Dec 16, 2020

  • iGenomics: Free Genome Analysis For The iPhone

    Bio-IT World | Sequencing in the palm of your hand is now a reality. A team of researchers has created iGenomics—the first comprehensive mobile genome analysis application, with capabilities to align reads, call variants, and visualize the results entirely on an iOS device. What started as a high school student’s internship project is now freely available in the App Store.

    Dec 15, 2020

  • New AI Chips, Managed Services Among Flood from AWS at re:Invent 2020

    Bio-IT World | At its re:Invent 2020 event, Amazon AWS announced many new products and services including the new Trainium chip for machine learning.

    Dec 14, 2020

  • Oral Antiviral Blocks Transmission, Multi-Organ Failure Mechanisms, Molecular Target for Lung Fibrosis: COVID-19 Updates

    Bio-IT World I IgA antibodies dominate early neutralizing response, specific proteins in animals increase vulnerability, understanding the roles of antibodies and T cells, and Molnupiravir could block SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Plus: New biomedical data sharing platform, disrupting cholesterol processes may combat COVID-19, and a new project aims to understand formation of coronaviruses.

    Dec 11, 2020

  • All of Us Returns First Genetic Results To Participants

    Bio-IT World | The All of Us Research Program has begun to return genetic results to participants who have donated biosamples for research, NIH announced yesterday. The program prioritizes information return to its research volunteers. Initially, participants can choose to receive information about their genetic ancestry and traits, with health-related results available at a later date.

    Dec 10, 2020

  • We’re All In This Together: The Integral Role of Animal Biology and Human Health

    Bio-IT World | COVID-19 has brought the link between animals and humans to the forefront, but given that we share more than 97% of our DNA with mammals, it’s time that we begin to consider diverse animal models not from a perspective of simply modeling human disease, but from a perspective of novel discovery and leveraging unique biology to find new pathways for therapeutics.

    Dec 10, 2020

  • GA4GH Incorporates As A Not-for-profit In Canada

    Bio-IT World | The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health announced last week the launch of GA4GH Inc., a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the federal laws of Canada. GA4GH Inc. will serve as a keystone for the Alliance, working alongside existing GA4GH governance structures such as the Standards Steering Committee (SSC), the Strategic Advisory Board (SAB), funders, and Host Institutions, which have supported the organization since its inception in 2013.

    Dec 7, 2020

  • How SARS-CoV-2 Reaches the Brain, Bias in Human Gene Studies, Certain Foods Weaken Virus: COVID-19 Updates

    Bio-IT World I Genetic variations could affect severity, mouse model sheds light on loss of smell, virus mutations may not increase transmissibility, and immune mechanism that triggers cytokine storm. Plus: Chemical compounds in certain foods may weaken SARS-CoV-2, how the virus hijacks human lung cells, and 3D protein modeling shows animal susceptibility.

    Dec 4, 2020

  • The Need for a Resilient Data Foundation for Drug Discovery and Manufacturing

    Bio-IT World | More than any other modern crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the complexity, interconnectedness and global nature of drug development and manufacturing. And it comes at a time when many pharmaceutical companies are in the middle of company-wide digitization initiatives, modernizing their processes to take better advantage of their data. This convergence represents an opportunity to speed up and improve drug discovery but must be considered carefully to ensure that future infrastructure is robust both to increased demand and increased levels of attack.

    Dec 3, 2020

  • DNA Data Storage Alliance Launches With Illumina, Microsoft, Twist Bioscience, Western Digital

    Bio-IT World | Twist Bioscience Corporation, Illumina, and Western Digital announced an alliance last month with Microsoft to advance the field of DNA data storage. These founding companies and member organizations will work together to create a comprehensive industry roadmap that will help the industry achieve interoperability between solutions and help establish the foundations for a cost-effective commercial archival storage ecosystem for the explosive growth of digital data.

    Dec 1, 2020

  • Power of AI With Cloud Computing is “Stunning” to Microsoft’s Nadella

    Bio-IT World | Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at the AI and the Future of Work Conference from MIT that cloud computing today is massively powerful.

    Nov 30, 2020