Tag: genomics
-
Large Genomic Study Finds New Rheumatoid Arthritis Targets
An international consortium of 70 institutions and companies combined genome-wide analyses with current drug databases to uncover new genomic targets for rheumatoid arthritis, and identify drugs for other diseases with the potential to treat the disorder. The team led by Robert Plenge of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute and Yukinori Okada from the…
-
Drug Fixes Vision Birth Defect in Lab Tests, Trial Planned
Medical researchers at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada adapted a new drug as a treatment for aniridia, a rare eye disease caused by a birth defect, with tests on mice showing the drug’s potential effectiveness in treating the disorder. The team from UBC and the affiliated Vancouver Coastal Health, led by UBC ophthalmology…
-
Sugar Beet Genome Sequenced, Human Impact on Species Noted
Geneticists and computer scientists in Germany, Spain, and Sweden sequenced the genome of the sugar beet, a plant contributing a large segment of the world’s sugar production. The study offers an analytical reference for advances in biotechnology with implications for agriculture and renewable energy. The team led by biology professor Bernd Weisshaar at Bielefeld University…
-
Genome Editing Start-Up Secures $43M in First Round Funds
The Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up Editas Medicine, developing therapies based on new research in genome editing, gained $43 million in its first financing round. The funding was led by venture companies Flagship Ventures, Polaris Partners, and Third Rock Ventures, with participation from Partners Innovation Fund, the venture funding arm of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and…
-
FDA Approves Sale of High-Throughput DNA Sequencing Systems
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday cleared for marketing high-throughput sequencing systems by Illumina Inc. in San Diego to analyze a person’s DNA. In a commentary on this approval in New England Journal of Medicine, FDA director Margaret Hamburg and National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins say, “Access to these data opens the…
-
Cancer Genomics Precision-Medicine Center Opens in Boston
A group of research institutes and hospitals in Boston is opening a new lab to study the science leading to individualized cancer therapies based on the genomic make-up of a patient’s tumors. The Joint Center for Cancer Precision Medicine is a collaboration of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the…
-
Less Expensive Method Devised to Assemble DNA Sequence Data
Genome scientists at University of Washington in Seattle developed a technique of assembling DNA sequencing data along entire chromosomes that is less expensive and as accurate as current methods. The team from Washington’s medical school led by Jay Shendure published its findings earlier this week in the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required). Shendure and…
-
Trial Underway Testing Genetic Disease Stem Cell Therapy
A clinical trial is underway testing a therapy based on a patient’s own stem cells to treat childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CCALD), a rare genetic disease affecting mainly boys. The trial began treating the first of an expected 15 patients testing the therapy made by bluebird bio, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Paris, France.…
-
DNAnexus, Baylor Partner on Large-Scale Genomic Analysis
Genomics and bioinformatics researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and analytical services company DNAnexus in Mountain View, California are collaborating on large-scale genomic sequencing for research and clinical applications, with a cloud computing platform. The partnership already processed genomic data from more than 14,000 individuals for a genetics analysis on heart disease and…
-
Consortium Funds Bio-Semiconductor Component Research
Semiconductor Research Corporation in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina is supporting research at six universities on components performing electronic functions, but based on biological models. The $2.25 million Semiconductor Synthetic Biology research studies will be conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yale, Georgia Tech, Brigham Young, and University of Washington. Semiconductor Research…