Category Archives: Transhuman News

CPreports 12/13/12 - Google Maps is Back!, Bieber Castration Plot, 23andMe
Great news everyone! Google Maps is finally available in the App Store!!! And I couldn #39;t be more extatic! I bet the Apple office is also breathing a sigh of relief right now. Google #39;s app introduces functions previously restricted to Android devices. Nokia however still posed a threat. The Finnish company recently launched its own free maps app for the iPhone. So it #39;s a dance off between the two, but for now I will stick to the iPhone and control the urge to switch over to the Samsung Galaxy 3S.let #39;s see how long I will last. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, best-known for investments linking consumers to the Internet, is placing a bet on genetics. Milner, who backed companies ranging from Facebook to gaming company Zynga, has led a $50 million funding round into 23andMe, a California, company that helps people decipher their genetic makeup. His investment shines a spotlight on biotechnology startups, which have taken a backseat in visibility to sectors like cloud computing and Internet services. 23andMe, named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each person #39;s genome, also announced a price drop for its saliva-based test, to $99 from $299. And why should we know our genetic makeup? Because we can learn specifics about our ancestry and genetic traits, including the possible conditions and diseases to which we may have a genetic predisposition. I #39;m sold! Beliebers please take a deep sigh of relief! He almost lost his testicles and his life - but police managed to ...From:CorporateProfileViews:14 1ratingsTime:03:34More inNews Politics

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CPreports 12/13/12 - Google Maps is Back!, Bieber Castration Plot, 23andMe - Video

Earth Microbiome Project : Rick Stevens at TEDxNaperville
50% of life on Earth is "invisible," yet responsible for making the planet habitable by man. A recent effort was launched to sample Earth #39;s incredible microbial diversity and reconstruct each organism #39;s genome to understand its complex lifestyle. So what is this effort and how does it help us understand life on our planet? In thespirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)From:TEDxTalksViews:1 1ratingsTime:18:13More inScience Technology

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Earth Microbiome Project : Rick Stevens at TEDxNaperville - Video

Riss Human DNA Seq SNP 1b 0 0
2nd Day- DNA resequencing with the intent to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms in individual samples is emerging as a frequent core task to identify genotypic differences in a population that may contribute to important phenotypic effects. The computational field has converged on a standardized best practices suite of tools for analyzing this type of data centered around the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK). In this hands-on tutorial, participants will perform analyses from start to finish with the goal of identifying SNP variants using data from de-identified human DNA samples. This will include (1) sample QA/QC, (2) mapping via BWA, post-processing of alignment files to remove PCR duplicates, re-calibrate basecalls and cleanup regions near indels, (3) genotype calling, (4) SNP annotation, and (5) SNP filtering and quality re-calibration. The first half hour of the first session will cover the basics of the Galaxy interface, so those already familiar with Galaxy can safely arrive one half-hour late for the first session.From:UofMMSIViews:1 0ratingsTime:01:01:43More inScience Technology

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Riss Human DNA Seq SNP 1b 0 0 - Video

Genome Mapping Now Only $99
How about this for an unconventional holiday gift? For $99, you can tell someone close to you whether he is likely to die of cancer or Alzheimer #39;s, along with a forecast of when that might happen. It #39;s not tarot cards, it #39;s the most personal, scientific fortune-telling there is: genome mapping. The home-testing service 23andMe has mined the DNA of more than 180000 customers for genetic predispositions and likely future ailments. The company #39;s reports reveal a host of data, including your likelihood of Parkinson #39;s or drug addiction. Marked down from $300, the $99 price comes courtesy of a generous new round of funding for the venture and declining technology costs. 23andMe ultimately hopes to reach 1 million customers who don #39;t mind a particularly stark look into the crystal ball.From:slatesterViews:596 15ratingsTime:01:03More inScience Technology

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Genome Mapping Now Only $99 - Video

Inventing Software Solutions with Partner, BioLinQ, to Simplify our Biobanking Process
The Biopathology Center here at Nationwide Children #39;s Hospital is funded by the National Cancer Institute and serves as the data repository for cancer samples from more than 500 hospitals. Every day, the Biopathology Center receives between 20 and 40 FedEx packages containing pediatric and adult cancer samples from across all North America. The Biopathology Center is also the repository for the Gynecologic Oncology Group, and the Children #39;s Oncology Group. Combined, these biobanks number 1.4 million tumor samples. Nationwide Children #39;s is one of only two repositories for leukemia samples in the United States, Canada and Australia. This biobanking expertise allowed Nationwide Children #39;s to become the Biospecimen Core Resource for The Cancer Genome Atlas project, a national project working to accelerate the comprehensive understanding of the genetics of cancer. But with all of that data comes a unique challenge: managing, organizing and analyzing all of it. The unique challenges we faced did not have a solution - so we created one. The Biopathology Center #39;s research informatics team partnered with a company called BioLinQ to develop three software solutions for disease diagnosis and medical research. What #39;s more is that all of these software solutions are being used by staff every day here at Nationwide Children #39;s. And soon - it #39;ll be available for other organizations to use. To learn more about The Research Institute here at Nationwide Children #39;s, visit: www ...From:NationwideChildrensViews:5 0ratingsTime:01:51More inNonprofits Activism

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Inventing Software Solutions with Partner, BioLinQ, to Simplify our Biobanking Process - Video

Einstein On: Genetic Sequencing, Dr. Harry Ostrer
http://www.einstein.yu.edu - Harry Ostrer, MD, discusses how genetic sequencing is changing the course of treatment for common diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer #39;s disease and heart disease by identifying individuals at higher risk. It can also play a role in personalizing treatment sequencing the genome of a cancer, for example, can yield information that leads to personalized, targeted therapy. He addresses concerns that genetic information can affect employability or insurability and reviews existing safeguards. Dr. Ostrer is a professor of pathology and of genetics at Einstein and director of genetics and genomic testing in clinical pathology at Montefiore Medical Center.From:EinsteinCollegeofMedViews:0 0ratingsTime:07:04More inScience Technology

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To help protect a diminutive elephant researchers are taking an innovative look at the pachyderm's genome.

The goal is to understand the genetic diversity of pygmy elephants on the island of Borneo. Numbering about 2,000, these babyish-looking elephants are the most endangered subspecies of Asian elephant. They live primarily in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo, where they are threatened by the loss and fragmentation of their forest, often by development associated with palm oil, widely used, edible plant oil.

"We are interested in looking at the diversity of elephants around the whole distribution range in Sabah," said study researcher Reeta Sharma, a postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (IGC) in Portugal.

Sharma and colleagues want to see how genetic diversity is distributed within the Borneo elephant population and how the fragmentation or breaking up of their forest habitat is affecting it by, for example, isolating groups of elephants. Increased isolation can be problematic because it means inbreeding, which can lead to more sickly and vulnerable animals. Their results suggest low genetic diversity in the pygmy elephants. [Amazing Photos of Pygmy Elephants]

Not easy to find

From the outset, the researchers knew they would need a close look to find markers within the elephant's genetic code that they could use to assess diversity. Markers are spots in the sequence that should vary between individual animals.

Only one previous study, published in 2003, conducted a genetic analysis of Borneo elephants. Using information developed from other Asian elephants, this study found low levels of diversity among Borneo elephants, meaning researchers were on the hunt for needles in a haystack.

"There is diversity there but you need genomes to look at it," said study researcher Louns Chikhi, a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifiquein France and a principal investigator at the IGC.

A genome is an organism's DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequence. Sharma and Chikhi hoped to harness rapidly evolving technology for reading large amounts of this sequence to identify markers they could use to assess diversity.

Before the arrival of genome-sequencing technology, identifying markers was a cumbersome and tedious process. Often, researchers had to rely on markers developed for relatives of the animal in question, the researchers said.

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Pygmy Elephants Get Protection Boost from Genetics

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESSWIRE)-- National Cheng Kung University kicked off GIW 2012 -- the 23rd International Conference on Genome Informatics -- at International Conference Hall Dec. 12, attracting more than 140 scholars from 10 countries including Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Canada, America, Germany, and Australia.

The focus of three-day conference was to explore complex biological systems and to employ the expertise of computer engineering in designing effective methodologies for genome-wide study, said Dr. Jung-Hsien Chiang, the general chair of GIW 2012, at the opening ceremony.

Chiang, an NCKU professor of Institute of Medical Informatics, said, GIW 2012 addresses computational understanding of biological systems for new developments in genome bioinformatics and computational biology, both from an academic standpoint as well as from the perspective of practical application.

He added, Genome informatics spans the entire range of everything you see in the biological community today, from sequence analysis to proteomics analysis, high-throughput gene expression, next-generation sequencing data, mass spectrometry, drug design, promoter analysis, protein complexes, motif binding, protein-protein interactions, stem cell, microRNA activity, and transcriptional regulatory.

Yon-Hua Tzeng, dean of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, NCKU, on behalf of NCKU President Hwung-Hweng Hwung, welcomed the participants from the world.

The conference features a lively and informative forum for scientists and researchers to exchange ideas and approaches, and this can be a good opportunity for international collaboration, Tzeng said.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Hideo Matsuda from Department of Bioinformatic Engineering, Osaka University, Japan, gave a talk Dec. 12 entitled Large-Scale Gene Regulatory Network Analysis for Adipocyte Differentiation on High-Performance Computer.

Matsuda introduced a study aimed at comprehensively understanding the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that govern the process of a cell differentiation.

Dr. Ilya Shmulevich from Institute for System Biology, USA, will give a keynote speech on Integrative Analysis and Interactive Exploration of Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, Dec. 13.

Shmulevich will be followed by Wen-Hsiung Li, a distinguished research fellow and director of Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, who will deliver the third keynote speech, on Protein Structure, Function and Classification.

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NCKU Hosts International Genome Informatics Conference

SINGAPORE & SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), an institute under the umbrella of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and Fluidigm Corporation (FLDM) today announced the establishment of the first research center in Asia exclusively dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how individual cells work, and how diagnosis and treatment might be enhanced through insight derived from single cells. The GIS-Fluidigm Single-Cell Omics Center (SCOC) is expected to act as a focal point for collaborative efforts among single-cell genomics researchers across the region.

The SCOC will be a visionary academic-industry partnership designed to provide integrated analytics for single-cell genomic applications to the regions researchers. This interdisciplinary center will bring together molecular and cell biologists and provide them with genomics and genotypic data for their assessment of biological pathways, disease mechanisms and the characterization of healthy and diseased tissues.

The center will provide single-cell analytics across a diverse collection of stakeholders such as drug discovery firms, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, academia and clinics. The SCOC is targeted to provide single-cell infrastructure across Singapore and Asia that will engage various disciplines in an adaptive multi-source platform.

An example of one of the early projects that the SCOC will tackle is defining early embryonic cellular state spaces using single-cell transcriptomics through mRNA sequencing. This project will be led by GIS Senior Group Leader Dr. Paul Robson. The measurement of the transcriptome at the single-cell level is the most accessible method to define cell states with digital gene expression patterns providing the state space coordinates. This project aims to define a minimal set of signaling and regulatory genes capable of defining the attractor and transitional cellular states spaces in existence early in human development.

The SCOC will be housed in dedicated laboratory space at GIS facilities in Biopolis, Singapore. It will feature the full capabilities of Fluidigms new C1 Single-Cell Auto Prep System and the Fluidigm BioMark HD System for gene expression analytics and validation. In addition, the center will have access to various NGS capabilities for sequencing.

GIS is one of the worlds premier centers for human genetics studies, genomic discovery, and the pursuit of integrating technology, genetics and biology towards the goal of individualized medicine. Drs. Paul Robson and Bing Lim, GIS Senior Group Leader and Associate Director, Cancer Stem Cell Biology, will oversee the initial projects run through the SCOC.

GIS Executive Director Prof Ng Huck Hui said, GIS has identified Single-Cell Genomics as one of our new research frontiers. We are set up to build a repertoire of new research capabilities for single-cell analyses. Our initial collaboration with Fluidigm has borne fruit with the publication of a landmark paper by Dr. Paul Robson. This larger and very important collaboration will see an even greater synergy between the technologies from GIS and Fluidigm.

With the creation of the SCOC, we assemble a strong multidisciplinary consortium of academia and industry, and an interdisciplinary team of senior scientists, engineers and informatics specialists with very deep knowledge and skills in analyzing cellomics and genomics information. This will create a platform for information-sharing in a collaborative manner designed to deliver fast execution from concept to results, said Dr. Michael Rossbach, Head of the GIS Office of Business Development.

The Single-Cell Omics Center is a major boost to the emerging, burgeoning field of single-cell analysis and we are thrilled to be part of it together with GIS, said Gajus Worthington, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fluidigm. GIS has a track record of publishing breakthroughs based upon single-cell research, so this center can act as an accelerant for more new science. In addition, we expect the SCOC will stimulate more single-cell genomics research throughout Asia, Worthington concluded.

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Genome Institute of Singapore and Fluidigm Establish Asia’s First Single-Cell Genomics Research Center