The New York Times reports the first case of the SARS-CoV-2 strain that is suspected to be more infectious has been identified in the US.

The Verge reports that the EU-UK trade deal includes a provision that the transfer of DNA profiles rely on outdated email software.

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority has approved the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, the Guardian reports.

In Cell this week: functional changes in bacteria and yeast due to protein structure alterations, C. elegans NeuroPAL labeling strategy, and more.

New cellular and molecular spatial biology methods, companies, and product offerings have made this area one of the hottest in the life science market.

News items for the week of Dec. 28, 2020.

Heikki Lanckriet and David Roth have resigned from the management board of German company 4basebio (formerly Expedeon). Going forward, they will focus on managing the operational business of the company's UK spinoff, 4basebio SE, which plans to start trading on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a market segment of the London Stock Exchange, in January.

The system is based on GNA's proprietary pulsed control amplification technology, which uses short electrical pulses to drive rapid amplification cycles.

Maryland launched a state-wide program to test wastewater for SARS-CoV-2, according to the Washington Post.

ScienceInsider reports that the UK-EU trade deal allows UK researchers access to EU research funding.

The Wall Street Journal reports on an increased push for COVID-19 testing in the US.

In PNAS this week: deep learning-based transcription factor prediction approach, simulation study of the Crabtree effect in yeast, and more.

The combined solution will give health systems access to real-time genetics expertise so they can integrate genetic test results into patients' care.  

Cowen highlighted the company's potential for allowing proteomics experiments at scale, allowing for deep proteomic measurements at high throughput.

In early 2020, the direct-to-consumer genetic test developer laid off about 14 percent of its workforce amid a restructuring of its consumer business.

The SARS-CoV-2 test, which runs on Cepheid's GeneXpert systems, is to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid in upper respiratory specimens such as nasal swabs.

The pace of development for CRISPR-based infectious disease assays increased as the pandemic progressed, more funding became available, and collaboration accelerated. 

An analysis appearing in a preprint suggests the SARS-CoV-2 strain identified in the UK may be more easily transmitted, the New York Times reports.

Novavax is launching a late-stage clinical trial of its prospective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in the US and Mexico, according to the Financial Times.

The Guardian reports that DNA barcoding has fueled the discovery of additional species and has pointed to greater biological diversity.

In PLOS this week: interaction of uracil-N-glycosylase and activation induced deaminase enzymes in B cell lymphoma, E. coli strains linked to bloodstream infections, and more.

Last week, GenomeWeb's readers were most interested in Piper Sandler upgrading Illumina's stock to Overweight with a new price target of $415.

The bill, which Congress overwhelmingly approved last week, also includes additional funding for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the total number of deals went down in 2020, those deals were worth more compared to 2019 — four of the top five had billion-dollar price tags.

Eurofins Genomics has launched a SARS-CoV-2 next-generation sequencing service providing full-length viral genome sequences, and will shortly launch its ARTIC NGS oligo mix. The service and oligo mix are based on a protocol by the ARTIC consortium, which is used for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing worldwide. The ARTIC approach utilizes an oligo pool for multiplexed PCR amplification of the complete viral genome. Eurofins Genomics said that it optimized the formulation of the oligo pool for highest performance and uniformity of coverage for the full-length viral genome. Eurofins is offering part of its sequencing capacity for free to public healthcare authorities who do not have emergency budgets available to detect the VUI2020-12/01 strain reported to be currently fast-spreading in the UK.