• Massachusetts Researchers Win $100K Paul Janssen Award

    Jun 20, 2012, 11:25 AM by Michael Croft
    Mass High Tech | Victor Ambros (University of Massachusetts Medical School) and Gary Ruvkun (Massachusetts General Hospital) will share the 2012 $100,000 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research from Johnson & Johnson for the discovery of microRNAs
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  • Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children Selects Ion Proton in Whole Genome Sequencing Push

    Jun 20, 2012, 06:40 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children will feature the Ion Proton sequencer as part of a major push into whole-genome sequencing at a new center for genetic medicine, aiming to sequence up to 10,000 patients annually in the coming years. 
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  • Open Access is Future of Academic Publishing, says UK Report

    Jun 20, 2012, 06:00 AM by Michael Croft
    The Guardian | "The future lies with open access publishing," says the chair of a new UK report on expanding access to publicly funded research, published this week. "The UK should recognise this change, should embrace it and should find ways of managing it in a measured way."
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  • IBM Blue Gene Reclaims Pole Position in TOP500 HPC Rankings

    Jun 19, 2012, 15:20 PM by Michael Croft
    HPC Wire | A 16-PetaFlop IBM Blue Gene/Q computer, Sequoia, has knocked off Japan's K Computer in the latest TOP500 rankings of high-performance computers, released at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany.
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  • Pacific Biosciences Releases Epigenetics Software

    Jun 19, 2012, 09:30 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Pacific Biosciences has released new software for identifying epigenetic modifcations in DNA, which could provide an important advance in studying the chemical modulation of gene activity in health and disease.
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  • Tending the Body's Microbial Garden

    Jun 19, 2012, 00:10 AM by Michael Croft
    New York Times | Scientists are making big strides in documenting the medical ecology of the microbiome -- the 100 trillion microbes that make human beings their home.
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  • NYGC Eyes Permanent Home in Manhattan

    Jun 18, 2012, 18:55 PM by Michael Croft
    Wall Street Journal | The New York Genome Center is in the final stages of negotiating a deal for about 150,000 square feet at 101 Sixth Ave., in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, signaling the home stretch for the center's six-month search for a permanent home.
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  • Ambry Genetics Catches the Clinical Sequencing Wave

    Jun 13, 2012, 09:00 AM by Michael Croft

    Bio-IT World | After launching its CLIA Exome sequencing service six months ago, Ambry Genetics has quietly dropped the price to $7,900 for a trio. But potentially cannabilizing a thriving molecular diagnostics business is far from the only thing that makes Ambry stand out.  

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  • Finish What We Started: Dietrich Stephan’s Silicon Valley Biosystems Opens Genome Interpretation Floodgates

    Jun 12, 2012, 14:00 PM by Michael Croft

    Bio-IT World | In an exclusive briefing with Bio-IT World, the co-founder of Navigenics, Dietrich Stephan, says he aims to “finish what we started” with the commercial launch of a new genome interpretation company, Silicon Valley Biosystems (SVBio). 

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  • June Free Trials and Downloads

    Jun 11, 2012, 01:30 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Free trials and downloads for June.
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  • Foundation Medicine, Novartis Partner for Clinical Trial Enrollment

    Jun 11, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Foundation Medicine | Foundation Medicine and Novartis are partnering on cancer drug testing. Novartis plans to use Foundation's technology as part of its cancer trial enrollment process over the next three years, focusing on Phase 1 and 2 oncology clinical programs. 
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  • FDA Delays Decision on HIV Pill

    Jun 11, 2012, 00:05 AM by Michael Croft
    San Francisco Chronicle | FDA has announced a delay in its decision on Gilead Sciences' HIV-prevention pill, choosing to take another three months to review the application and supporting materials.
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  • Genentech Gets FDA Approval for Combo Treatment

    Jun 11, 2012, 00:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Xconomy | Genentech announced early results of a new drug targeting HER2-expressing cancers early last week, and later received FDA approval to market Perjeta in combination with Herceptin and Taxotere. 
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  • Fetal Sequencing Based on Mother's Blood, Father's Saliva

    Jun 7, 2012, 07:00 AM by Michael Croft
    New York Times | Researchers are now able to determine a fetus's entire genome from the mother's blood and the father's saliva. 
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  • David Ho Highlights Launch of Bio-IT Asia Conference

    Jun 6, 2012, 02:50 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | SINGAPORE—Ten years after the launch of the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo series in Boston, the conference made its debut in Asia in the sparkling Marina Bay Sands convention center. The trio of speakers who opened the three-day meeting was veteran HIV researcher David Ho, bio-IT consultant Chris Dagdigian, and AstraZeneca bioinformatician Yaron Turpaz. 
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  • Does Thimerosal Prevent Autism? Epidemiology Gone Wild

    Jun 6, 2012, 02:40 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | The Skeptical Outsider | Human beings are born pattern recognizers, part of the repertoire of survival skills that separates us from the beasts. We are programmed to spot relationships that we are looking for, sometimes when they're not even there. This occasionally causes us to leap to questionable conclusions that can wreak all sorts of havoc. 
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  • Quake Wins $500K Lemelson-MIT Prize

    Jun 6, 2012, 01:25 AM by Michael Croft
    Mass High Tech | Stephen Quake, Helicos co-founder and Stanford University professor, has been recognized as this year's Lemelson-MIT Prize winner. He is being recognized for his invention of an improved method for measuring the immune system along with other work. 
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  • Complete Genomics Cuts Jobs, Starts Review

    Jun 6, 2012, 01:10 AM by Michael Croft
    Bloomberg Businessweek | Complete Genomics is laying off about 20 percent of its workforce and has hired a financial adviser, Jeffries & Co., to help it explore various strategic options including a possible merger or sale of the company.
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  • What's In a Name?

    Jun 5, 2012, 00:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Xconomy | Biotech companies change their names for many reasons, some good, some questionable. Xconomy looks at the old and new names of several biotechs. 
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  • Best Practices: Safety Rules for ELNs

    Jun 4, 2012, 03:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World Best Practices | Keeping track of all of the safety rules for reactions and reagents was an overwhelming proposal, so the chemistry safety officers at Bristol-Myers Squibb recruited informatics help to see if there was another option. The resulting electronic laboratory notebook customization earned a best practices nod by the judges in the 2012 Bio-IT World Best Practices Awards competition. 
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