With an eye toward disease prevention, researchers are working to incorporate gene-environment interactions into public health genomics.
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Tracy Vence is a senior editor of Genome Technology. |
Sponsor: EMD Millipore
Data presented in this webinar illustrates the value of live cell analysis at the single-cell level to identify differences in expression levels across populations of cells. The cells remain intact for downstream analysis. Our experts also discuss the use of SmartFlare RNA detection probes for the direct quantification of circulating miRNAs with rapid processing of blood plasma/serum, which is done without the use of enzymes. Using circulating miRNAs with established roles in cancer and quality control, we can accurately detect these miRNAs in plasma using a microplate fluorometer within an hour after plasma preparation.
On-demand recording is available here.
Sponsor: New England Biolabs
Library preparation methods continue to be challenged by the requirement for faster and more efficient protocols, using lower input amounts. In this online seminar, recorded Feb. 7, 2013, experts discuss new approaches to tackle these challenges, particularly for bacterial and exome sequencing.
Available here.
Instructor
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Alex Pearlman hopes his discoveries will affect the way prostate cancer patients are treated. With other researchers, he has developed a genomic copy-number alteration-based prognostic model to predict, at the earliest stage possible, the likelihood that a local prostate cancer will metastasize.
The model was featured in a recent issue of the Journal of Probability and Statistics, a paper that he calls the "culmination of 10 years of work" and the "methods paper" for what he hopes will soon be a clinical test. "The finish line is pretty clear," says Pearlman, who is at New York City's Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "It is to develop a US Food and Drug Administration-approved kit to predict prostate cancer metastases and to alleviate men of needless surgeries and radiation treatment."
The Natural History Museum is amassing tissue samples from around the world to analyze with genomic tools.
A survey suggests that public interest in biomedical research is high, but knowledge is not as high.
Scientists and others call for an end of using impact factors to evaluate researchers' work.
Variation and genetic control of protein abundance in humans
Wu, Candille, et al. Nature
Stanford University scientists publish a study demonstrating high-throughput human proteome quantification, and its combination with DNA variation and transcriptome information to add a "new dimension" to the characterization of gene expression regulation. The investigators used isobaric tag-based quantitative mass spectrometry to determine relative protein levels of 5,953 genes in lymphoblastoid cell lines from 95 diverse individuals genotyped in the HapMap Project. They found that protein levels are heritable molecular phenotypes and have considerable variation between individuals, populations, and sexes. Additionally, the investigators found protein quantitative trait loci, including variants not detected by previous transcriptome studies.
Genomic architecture of adaptive color pattern divergence and convergence in Heliconius butterflies
Supple, Hines, et al. Genome Research
A group from the US, UK, and Colombia describes findings from a comparative genomics-based study on a form of adaptive variation in butterflies known as mimetic wing coloring. By sequencing co-mimicking Heliconius butterflies from two species and a handful of hybrid zones, researchers narrowed in on a color pattern-associated site near a gene already implicated in red color variation — an apparent regulatory region suspected of evolving by convergence in the two species distantly related species. "Using a combination of next-generation sequencing analyses, we have refined our understanding of the genetic architecture of wing pattern variation in Heliconius," they write, "and gained important insights into the evolution of novel adaptive phenotypes in natural populations."
Kevin Hrusovsky is resigning his post at PerkinElmer as senior VP and president of the Life Science and Technology division. Hrusovsky will serve as a consultant to the company for up to one year, beginning in June. He joined PerkinElmer through the company's acquisition of Caliper Life Sciences, where he was CEO and president.
Hologic has appointed former Beckman Coulter head Scott Garrett to its board of directors, where he will serve on the corporate development committee.
Garrett currently is an operating partner with Water Street Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm. Garrett spent 10 years at Beckman Coulter, where he was chairman, president, and CEO.
Gina Costa is now senior director of genomic applications at Illumina. She joins Illumina from Life Technologies, where she was senior director of genetic analysis, working on development of the Ion Torrent and SOLiD sequencing technologies. She has also held positions at Agencourt Bioscience and Roche's 454 Life Sciences.
Bioinformatics firm Golden Helix has hired Andreas Scherer to be its new president and CEO. Scherer has managed large global software services businesses, and he started his executive career at AOL/Netscape. He will replace Former CEO Christophe Lambert, who will take on the new role of company chairman.