Even as the chip is being used to detect diseases, its inventors are also finding that the it can be used to validate other CRISPR-based technologies.

A population of progenitor cells identified in mouse models of the Sonic Hedgehog medulloblastoma subtype led to a gene that is highly expressed in patients with poor outcomes.

Researchers found that 14 percent of individuals with metastatic breast cancer had risky mutations germline mutations, including patients who did not meet testing criteria.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower-court decision in favor of Illumina, which Scripps had sued over marketing of bead-based microarrays.

Invitae reported that its recent acquisition Singular Bio had a net loss of $1.8 million in 2018 compared to a net loss of $3.3 million in 2017

The Los Angeles Times reports that a cranium fossil that was found in Ethiopia is shedding new light on the Australopithecus anamensis hominin.

The company hopes to develop AI-based tools to improve the usefulness of its ESCAPE platform, which combines single-cell sequencing with protein analysis.

Project partners will expand on infrastructure developed by DNAstack for accessing genomic data and explore patient consent models that support nationwide sharing.

The firm replaced an existing $4 billion credit facility with a $5 billion one, and entered into a new $5 billion revolving credit facility. 

Gene-edited hornless cattle may have unwanted bacterial DNA in their genomes, reports MIT Technology Review.

The new test uses the number of sequencing reads at specific early and late HPV transcripts as a biomarker for high-grade cytology.

PhD programs should help students to pursue careers other than academia, Nature News says.

In Science this week: a large-scale genome-wide assocation study of same-sex sexual behavior, the utility of liquid biopsies to detect cancers earlier than conventional methods, and more.

Health informatics firm M2Gen recently appointed Helge Bastian as president and CEO. Bastian succeeds William Dalton, executive chair of the firm and interim CEO since September 2018. Bastian joins M2Gen from Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he led the sample preparation and synthetic biology businesses as vice president and general manager since 2014. Before that, he held a number of senior leadership positions and served as a member of several executive leadership teams, including managing director and chief commercial officer at Indivumed; vice president of global marketing, business development, and strategy at Sigma-Aldrich (now Merck KGaA); executive vice president of life science services for SGS; and various management positions at Qiagen including vice president of molecular diagnostics, VP of global strategic marketing, and VP of PreAnalytiX, a Qiagen/Becton Dickinson joint venture.

Lausanne, Switzerland-based Lunaphore Technologies has appointed Joseph Bernardo chairman of its board of directors. Bernardo has a leadership background spanning the diagnostic value chain, including laboratory management, sales, service, marketing, distribution, operations, and R&D. Bernardo has held four president positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, including in the divisions of Next Generation Sequencing, Immunodiagnostics, Anatomic Pathology, and Fisher Healthcare. In addition to his operational executive experience in diagnostics, Bernardo has significant M&A experience and has been involved in more than 40 due diligence assessments, acquisitions, and company integrations, Lunaphore said.

The researchers will evaluate recent developments in human genome editing as well as responses from the public and scientific communities.

More powerful and user-friendly mass spec systems could drive an uptick in interest in the technique, suggested a leading top-down researcher.

Researchers identified five loci that were overrepresented in individuals with past, self-reported same-sex sexual behavior, though the associations were complex.

Since 2016, the VHA has routinely profiled molecular features in advanced cancers from vets in its care, even in rural locales, though challenges remain.

The projects are focused on the impact of microbe communities on soil nutrient cycling, and the relationship between gene function and beneficial plant traits.

Rowan Chapman has joined the board of directors of Natera. Most recently, she was head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation for Western North America, Australia, and New Zealand; head of precision diagnostics at GE Healthcare Life Sciences; and managing director of new business creation and head of healthcare investing at GE Ventures. Prior to that, she was a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Chapman holds a BA in biochemistry and a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Cambridge.

The company believes the multi-omic approach it has honed for early cancer detection can also glean predictive signatures of drug response from both tumor and immune signals.

The German company's new Genome Enhancer product is an adaptation of its flagship multi-omics software for clinicians and biologists without bioinformatics expertise.

For the six-month period ended June 30, the molecular diagnostic company's revenues fell to $10.9 million from $17.2 million in H1 2018.