• New Type of CRISPR Screen Probes the Regulatory Genome

    Bio-IT World | Scientists at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have invented a "multiplexed editing regulatory assay" (MERA) to test large swathes of the genome in parallel for regulatory elements that can turn gene activity on and off over the course of a cell's development.

    Feb 8, 2016

  • Debugging Science Experiments at Elemental Machines

    Xconomy | A Cambridge startup is trying to remove extraneous variables from experiments with a "smart lab" that can better control for simple factors like temperature and humidity.

    Feb 3, 2016

  • Mobile DNA Sequencing in the Ebola Epidemic

    Bio-IT World | The results of a months-long effort to sequence virus samples in the middle of the largest Ebola outbreak in history, using the handheld MinION DNA sequencer and a miniature mobile lab, have been published in Nature.

    Feb 3, 2016

  • Venter Expands Attempt to Fight Disease, Increase Lifespan

    San Diego Union-Tribune | J. Craig Venter's company Human Longevity, Inc. has purchased LifebankUSA, a biobank that preserves stem cells from cord blood and placental tissue, growing an enterprise that will soon begin sequencing infants' genomes as a service.

    Feb 1, 2016

  • UK Scientists Gain Licence to Edit Genes in Human Embryos

    Nature News | A team at Francis Crick Institute has been permitted to use CRISPR-Cas9 technology in embryos for early-development research, but the work is still many steps away from genome-edited human beings.

    Feb 1, 2016

  • January News and Product Briefs

    Bio-IT World | The latest products and announcements from around the industry, including a high-throughput protein conformation analyzer, and updates to the cloud-based genome analysis services of both DNAnexus and Seven Bridges.

    Jan 29, 2016

  • 'Remarkable Turning Point' as Medical Journals Require Clinical Trial Data Sharing

    STAT | Harlan Krumholz, of the Yale Open Data Access project, speaks about a new proposal by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

    Jan 28, 2016

  • Scientists Move Closer to Understanding Schizophrenia’s Cause

    New York Times | A massive genomic study provides researchers with a strong case for a biological mechanism involved in the disorder, and helps explain why it often begins at a relatively young age.

    Jan 27, 2016

  • Ferring Pharmaceuticals to Fund Research Center for Microbiome-Based Therapies

    Bio-IT World News Brief | Swiss drugs company Ferring Pharmaceuticals will fully fund the creation of a joint research center with the Karolinska Institutet of Sweden, to conduct human microbiome studies with an eye on new therapies.

    Jan 27, 2016

  • Illumina Buys Conexio for HLA Typing Business

    Bio-IT World News Brief | Illumina has purchased Conexio Genomics, an Australian company that was one of the first to develop products for using next-generation sequencing in matching tissue donors and recipients through HLA genotyping.

    Jan 26, 2016

  • The Forest in Your Mouth

    Phenomena | A study using many parallel probes has revealed the spatial organization of different bacterial species in dental plaque. The strategy could be used to explore microbial ecology in all sorts of environments.

    Jan 25, 2016