Transgenomic Eyes Dana-Farber's COLD-PCR for Cancer Screening Applications

October 22, 2009

By Bernadette Toner

COLD-PCR preferentially amplifies segments of DNA that contain mutations, and is thereby able to increase the sensitivity of downstream mutation-detection methods by a factor of 10 to 100. Transgenomic believes it can increase the sensitivity of the approach even further in order to detect low-concentration mutations in the blood that could serve as early indicators of cancer.

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Young Investigator Profile

Martin Beck

European Molecular Biology Laborator
Group Leader, Structural and Computational Biology Unit

Macromolecular Assemblies

Martin Beck's research group at EMBL combines biochemical approaches, proteomics and cryo-electron microscopy to study the structure and function of large macromolecular assemblies. The end goals of this work include developing integrated workflows for structure determination of large macromolecular assemblies such as the nuclear pore complex, elucidation of their function through real-time imaging, and ultimately revealing the steps of their assembly and disassembly process.
Blog

Sequencers and Tanks

Nick Loman has updated his map of sequencers and begun a new estimate of sequencers being sold.

March 19, 2010

Cherry Picking Clauses

Andrew Yates wonders how genetic tests can help people make medical decisions if the tests are for research and educational purposes only.

March 19, 2010

Adding More SNPs to Breast Cancer Risk Models Doesn't Help

NCI researchers say breast cancer risk models don't perform better when researchers add common genetic variants linked to the disease.

March 19, 2010

NIH Creating Genetic Testing Registry

The NIH is creating a genetic testing registry that researchers can use to search for information.

March 19, 2010
Papers of Note

Sequencing and Analysis of the Hydra Genome
Chapman, Kirkness et al., Nature
An international research collaboration reports their sequencing and analysis of the Hydra magnipapillata genome, and compare it to the genomes of several other organisms. "The Hydra genome has been shaped by bursts of transposable element expansion, horizontal gene transfer, trans-splicing, and simplification of gene structure and gene content that parallel simplification of the Hydra life cycle," the authors write. They team suggests that comparisons of the Hydra genome to the reported sequences of other animals have helped them to elucidate the evolution of several of the organism's characteristics.

GWAS Identifies Risk Loci for Ulcerative Colitis
Abrecht, Wittig et al., Nature Genetics
Researchers present results from a genome-wide association study which identified risk loci at 7q22 and 22q13 for ulcerative colitis. Their analyses included 1,897,764 SNPs from 1,043 UC cases and 1,703 controls from Germany, and six replication panels from different regions in Europe.
People on the Move

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Professor Leena Peltonen-Palotie died this week of cancer at her home in Finland, according to the Sanger Institute. Peltonen-Palotie was head of human genetics at Wellcome Trust, and she held appointments at the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland.

Three leaders from the Human Genome Project — David Botstein, Francis Collins, and Eric Lander — have been named co-winners of the 2010 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, which carries with it a purse of $500,000.

Adrian Dillon will resign from his job as executive VP of finance and administration and CFO of Agilent Technologies to become chief financial and administrative officer at Skype. He will be replaced at the beginning of April by Didier Hirsch, who currently is VP of corporate controllership and taxes and who will serve as acting CFO.
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PTEN Pathways & Targets
Mar. 16-20 / Cold Spring Harbor, NY
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The Complex Life of mRNA: From Synthesis to Decay
Mar. 18-19 / Heidelberg, Germany
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EMBL-EBI-Wellcome Trust

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Mar. 18-20 / New Orleans, La.
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ABRF 2010
Mar. 20-23 / Sacramento, CA
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Science
Researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology and elsewhere used Complete Genomics' sequencing service to identify mutations behind a Mendelian condition called Miller syndrome and an inherited lung disorder called ciliary dyskinesia in a family of four.
Business
Bruker will acquire certain mass spectrometry and chromatography product lines from Varian, clearing the way for Agilent to complete its $1.5 billion acquisition of Varian. The divestitures were part of conditions set by EU authorities for approval of the merger.
Funding
HHS expects that in 2010 NIH will spend another roughly $5.2 billion overall in stimulus funds that were left over from ARRA's first year. NIH still has more than $1.6 billion to spend in stimulus funds for lab construction and renovation, buildings and facilities, and shared instruments.
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Transgenomic Eyes Dana-Farber's COLD-PCR for Cancer Screening Applications

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