Nanotech, Single-Molecule Methods, Personalized Medicine Remain Top of Mind for VCs

December 29, 2009

By Ben Butkus

Despite the recently soured economy, VCs have remained relatively optimistic about investment opportunities in the life science research tools and molecular diagnostics sectors, driven primarily by advances in nanotechnology, single-molecule genomics and proteomics techniques, and personalized medicine.

Full-text access for registered users only. Existing users login here.
New to GenomeWeb? Register quickly here for free access.

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

Washington University Genome Center Receives $14M in stimulus funds

Washington University's Genome Center receives $14.3M grant to expand capacity.

March 11, 2010

A Different Kind of Celebrity Genomics

Illumina sequences Glenn Close's genome.

March 11, 2010

NSF Tries to Lure Minority Students to Science

The National Science Foundation wants to consolidate several programs that are currently geared towards helping specific racial and ethnic groups.

March 11, 2010

Favorable Figures

A paper published this week in PLoS One suggests progress in 'the war against cancer' in the US.

March 11, 2010
Papers of Note

Family-Based Whole-Genome Sequencing Reveals Candidates for Mendelian Disease
Roach, Glusman et al., Science
Researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology and Complete Genomics have identified candidate disease-causing genes for Miller syndrome and ciliary dyskinesia, both Mendelian disorders. They sequenced the genomes of a family of four, allowing them to determine recombination sites with precision (at 99.999 percent accuracy) and identify rare single-nucleotide polymorphisms. "Our results demonstrate the unique value of complete genome sequencing in families," the authors write.

Resequencing the Domestic Chicken Genome
Rubin, Zody et al., Nature
An international research team reports their resequencing efforts of the Gallus gallus domesticus — domestic chicken — genome. Using a massively parallel approach, they sequenced the chicken genome to 44.5-fold coverage and identified candidate mutations that may have played a role in the animal's domestication. The authors also suggest their results imply "the importance of the domestic chicken as a model organism for biomedical research."
People on the Move

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.

Pacific Biosciences last week appointed Susan Barnes as its first chief financial officer.

She formerly was senior VP of finance and CFO of Intuitive Surgical and previously served as managing director of the private equity group at Jeffries & Company, among other positions.

Joel McComb is leaving his post as senior VP and GM of Illumina's Life Sciences business to become COO at Synthetic Genomics. McComb will depart Illumina and take on the new position at SGI, where he will report to founder and CEO J. Craig Venter, effective March 1.
Upcoming Events

Conferences, Meetings & Deadlines

NHGRI Advanced Sequencing Technology Development Workshop
Mar. 10-11 / Chapel Hill, NC
National Human Genome Research Center, National Institutes of Health

Neuronal Circuits
Mar. 10-13 / Cold Spring Harbor, NY
CSHL

PTEN Pathways & Targets
Mar. 16-20 / Cold Spring Harbor, NY
CSHL

The Complex Life of mRNA: From Synthesis to Decay
Mar. 18-19 / Heidelberg, Germany
EMBL

Perspectives in Clinical Proteomics
Mar. 18-19 / Hinxton, UK
EMBL-EBI-Wellcome Trust

Abstract & Registration Deadlines

more

Science
A research team has published a proof-of-principle metagenomics study using short read sequencing to catalog and characterize microbial genes present in the human gut, offering insights into the microbial communities colonizing the gut.
Business
Life Technologies, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, and US Oncology are collaborating on a sequencing study aimed at determining whether cancer genome sequencing can help guide individual treatments.
Funding
The National Human Genome Research Institute would receive $534 million under the White House's proposed $32.2 billion budget for the National Institutes of Health for Fiscal Year 2011, up $18 million over the 2010 appropriation.
Genome Technology Magazine
GenomeWeb now has job listings! Check them out, or post your own for free.

Search

Nanotech, Single-Molecule Methods, Personalized Medicine Remain Top of Mind for VCs

Related Stories

In this issue of GenomeWeb Daily News

Young Investigator Profile

Blog

Papers of Note

People on the Move

Upcoming Events

Science

Business

Funding

Genome Technology Magazine

TechGuides Listings

Poll