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New Products: FlexGen's FleXelect kits; Hamilton Robotics' automated sample prep kit; Galaxy update

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FlexGen has launched a set of target enrichment products in its FleXelect product line. The products include a whole-exome enrichment kit as well as several targeted gene panels, including a cancer risk panel, hereditary diseases panel, and a BRCA screening kit.


Hamilton Robotics has launched its automated sample prep enrichment solution, which is based on its Microlab Starlet Liquid Handling Workstation, for sequencing on Roche's 454 GS FLX. The workflow integrates Roche's REM e liquid handling system to enrich up to eight samples. Additionally, the protocol automates five hours of manual work and results in less variability and more consistent results, according to the company.


Researchers at Pennsylvania State University and Emory University have released a new version of Galaxy. The new version now supports TopHat 1.4.0 and Cufflinks, CuffDiff, and CuffCompare 1.3.0 as well as Python, Sam Tools, FASTQC, and Picard.

The tool also enables sharing of workflows and includes a direct link to browse VCF and BAM files in the Integrative Genomics Viewer as well as new visualization features, performance upgrades, and drag-and-drop composite track creation.


Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have released CummeRbund 1.1.1, software for analyzing Cufflinks RNA-seq output. The new release, available here, fixes a number of bugs and includes new features. The new version will also be available as part of the Bioconductor development version 2.10.


The National Center for Biotechnology Information has added new attributes to entries in its refSNP database including: clinical significance, minor allele frequency and global minor allele frequency, suspect variations, and allele origin. Clinical significance scores are provided by submitters and not interpreted by the NCBI. The attributions are in the ASN1_flat files, available here via FTP server.

The Scan

Latent HIV Found in White Blood Cells of Individuals on Long-Term Treatments

Researchers in Nature Microbiology find HIV genetic material in monocyte white blood cells and in macrophages that differentiated from them in individuals on HIV-suppressive treatment.

Seagull Microbiome Altered by Microplastic Exposure

The overall diversity and the composition at gut microbiome sites appear to coincide with microplastic exposure and ingestion in two wild bird species, according to a new Nature Ecology and Evolution study.

Study Traces Bladder Cancer Risk Contributors in Organ Transplant Recipients

In eLife, genome and transcriptome sequencing reveal mutation signatures, recurrent somatic mutations, and risky virus sequences in bladder cancers occurring in transplant recipients.

Genes Linked to White-Tailed Jackrabbits' Winter Coat Color Change

Climate change, the researchers noted in Science, may lead to camouflage mismatch and increase predation of white-tailed jackrabbits.