NEW YORK – Pacific Biosciences said this week that it has launched a free, publicly available, long-read variant frequency database with global representation in collaboration with the international Consortium for Long-Read Sequencing (CoLoRS). It includes data from over 1,000 genomes. "This effort complements existing databases such as gnomAD, as long reads enable much greater sensitivity and precision for complex variants and tandem repeats," Michael Schatz, a bioinformatician at Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement. "The CoLoRS database is a tremendous step forward in our collective effort to understand complex genetic variations and their implications in disease."
Single-cell firm Singleron Biotechnologies said this week that it has appointed Admera Health as a certified service provider in the US.
Abbott this week announced that its board of directors has approved a quarterly dividend of $.55 per share, payable Aug. 15 to shareholders of record on July 15.
Enzo Biochem reported this week that its fiscal third-quarter revenues rose 7 percent to $8.0 million compared to $7.4 million in the year-ago quarter. For the quarter ended April 30, the firm reported a net loss of $3.0 million compared to a net loss of $15.2 million a year earlier. It ended the quarter with $57.2 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Oligo Factory said this week that it has received ISO 13485:2016 quality management systems certification for its facility in Holliston, Massachusetts. The firm said that the certification will extend its ability to manufacture and supply custom raw materials including primers, probes, and other nucleotides that are used in diagnostic assays. The ISO 13485:2016 standard relates to the ability to provide medical devices and related services while consistently meeting the requirements of customers and regulatory bodies.
In Brief This Week is a selection of news items that may be of interest to our readers but had not previously appeared on GenomeWeb.