• The People’s Parrot: the First Community-Sponsored Genome

    Sep 28, 2012, 06:05 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World  | Researchers in Puerto Rico have taken the concept of public funding for genome research to a new level. Paid for with money raised from art and fashion shows and private donations, scientists and students at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez have sequenced the genome of the critically endangered Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata)—and maybe introduced a new model for genome research.  
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  • ChemAxon Opens East Coast Offices

    Sep 27, 2012, 15:25 PM by Michael Croft
    Sacramento Bee | ChemAxon has opened new East coast headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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  • Knome Launches knoSYS 100 Genome Supercomputer to Enhance Interpretation

    Sep 27, 2012, 07:25 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Knome, the informatics company co-founded by George Church that bills itself as the “human genome interpretation” company, is launching a dedicated “genome supercomputer” designed to sit next to a next-gen sequencer and enhance the interpretation of genome sequences using Knome's proprietary software.  
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  • Biofuels: Technology vs. the Market

    Sep 26, 2012, 14:00 PM by Michael Croft
    Fast Company | Making their biofuel is a lot like making beer, says Eduardo Loosli, the plant manager at Amyris's Brazilian headquarters. But instead of yeast producing alcohol from sugar, the Amyris genetically modified yeast produce farnesene.
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  • Too Sexy for Your Data?

    Sep 26, 2012, 12:05 PM by Michael Croft
    Harvard Business Review | What's the sexiest job in the 21st century? Harvard Business Review says it's data scientist. With all the messy datasets available to us now, sorting through and processing that information is an opportunity for creativity, ingenuity,and some very sexy computing.
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  • What the Complete-BGI Merger Really Means

    Sep 26, 2012, 11:45 AM by Michael Croft
    Xconomy | As the dust settles on the BGI-Complete Genomics announcements, we can start to consider what the merger means for the industry and genomics-driven medicine.
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  • HHMI Names 13 Biomed Research Scholars

    Sep 26, 2012, 02:05 AM by Michael Croft
    HHMI | The Howard Hughes Medical Center has chosen 13 basic researchers as recipients of its Senior International Research Scholar (SIRS) awards. Each research scholar will receive a grant of $100,000 per year over five years.
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  • BGI and Gates Foundation Collaborate

    Sep 25, 2012, 11:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | BGI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to begin immediate collaboration on global health and agricultural development.
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  • Data Centers and the Real Infrastructure Behind the Cloud

    Sep 25, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World Roundup | There's been much discussion this week of data centers and the virtual cloud's actual impact on the environment.
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  • Phase II Flub for Peregrine

    Sep 24, 2012, 12:55 PM by Michael Croft
    Cancer Grace | A week after releasing favorable Phase II results for the novel vascular-targeting immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer, bavituximab, study sponsor Peregrine Pharmaceuticals has announced "major discrepancies" in the trial.
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  • Vienna Gets Set to Host Bio-IT World Europe 2012

    Sep 24, 2012, 06:55 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Vienna may be known as the City of Music, but in three weeks it will also be a hub for life sciences, informatics, and IT. Bio-IT World’s fourth  European Conference & Expo finds a new home in Vienna, Austria, bringing tracks on drug discovery informatics; data infrastructure and high performance computing; cloud-based bioinformatics and clinical genomics to the heart of Europe.  
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  • Allen Brain Atlas Reveals Data from First Two Scanned Brains

    Sep 21, 2012, 10:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Forbes | The Allen Brain Atlas published its first results yesterday in Nature, and some were surprising. Gene expression on the right and left sides of the brain looks very similar, but the variety that is there seems to be pretty important.
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  • Google Ventures has $1 Billion to Spend, Eyes Biotech

    Sep 21, 2012, 09:00 AM by Michael Croft
    CNBC | Google Ventures is planning $1 billion of start-up investment in the next five years and it has its eye on biotech.
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  • MyoKardia Gains Venture Funds to Investigate Drugs for Genetic Heart Defects

    Sep 21, 2012, 09:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Xconomy | Third Rock Ventures is investing $38 million in a startup that is targeting the genetic causes of heart problems. MyoKardia will set up shop in San Francisco.
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  • Novartis Takes $665m Bid for Selexys

    Sep 21, 2012, 08:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Tulsa World | In addition to $23 million of Series A financing, Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Oklahoma City has struck an agreement with Novartis that could lead to the company's acquisition for up to $665 million for its sickle cell treatment.
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  • Microfluidics, NGS, and Personalized Cosmetics

    Sep 21, 2012, 07:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World Video | Bio-IT World Editor Kevin Davies speaks with Dave Weitz, professor of physics at Harvard and speaker at the upcoming Consumer Genomics Conference, about his research on microfluidics, which has applications in everything from next-gen sequencing technology to personalized cosmetics.
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  • Foundation Medicine Announces $42.5m in Series B Financing

    Sep 20, 2012, 11:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Boston Globe |  Foundation Medicine announced a $42.5 million Series B financing round this morning thanks to Deerfield Management Company, L.P., Casdin Capital, Redmile Group and strategic investors Roche Venture Fund and WuXi Corporate Venture Fund.
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  • New Pharma Collaboration Focuses on Clinical Standards

    Sep 20, 2012, 05:20 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | A new big pharma collaboration has been launched to identify and solve common drug development challenges, starting with clinical study execution. TransCelerate BioPharma was created by ten companies—Abbott, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Genentech (a member of the Roche Group), and Sanofi—all of which have pooled financial, personnel, and other resources to solve industry-wide challenges in a collaborative environment. 
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  • Illumina Acquires Cytogenetics Company BlueGnome

    Sep 19, 2012, 12:25 PM by Michael Croft
    BlueGnome | Illumina today announced that it will acquire UK company BlueGnome, a cytogenetics company that looks at the structure and function of cells for genetic abnormalities. 
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  • The Genomics Guinea Pigs

    Sep 19, 2012, 10:45 AM by Michael Croft
    NPR | The researchers who are serving as genomics guinea pigs are also working through how we should process the information the genome reveals.
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