Category Archives: Genome

BALTIMORE, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. (PGDx), a pioneer in conducting patient-specific analyses aimed at identifying genomic alterations in tumors, today announced a number of developments that will support its expanding business. The company licensed exclusive rights to Digital Karyotyping (DK), an important genome-mapping technology developed by the company's founders at Johns Hopkins University. PGDx also announced that it is expanding into new facilities and has made a number of key hires, including Genzyme Oncology executive Antony Newton as Chief Commercial Officer.

PGDx's co-founders include Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Victor Velculescu and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Luis Diaz, international leaders in cancer genetics and faculty members at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who were the first to perform genome-wide sequence analyses of human cancer. They and colleagues at Johns Hopkins, including Dr. Bert Vogelstein, a recent recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his work in colon cancer, established the company in response to requests from cancer researchers and clinicians for commercial access to their specialized genome-mapping services and analyses. PGDx has licensed rights from Johns Hopkins to proprietary methods based on next-generation sequencing, patented approaches to genetic analysis and proprietary data algorithms, and its scientists have deep expertise in the practical application of these technologies to the study of cancer genomics.

"At PGDx, we are fortunate to be able to bring the latest advances in cancer genomics such as Digital Karyotyping to cancer researchers and clinicians around the globe," said Antony Newton. "This is an exciting time for cancer genomics, and we expect to be announcing a number of collaborations and partnerships in the coming months as we bring our advanced capabilities to the many researchers and drug developers who are rapidly advancing the field."

Newton added, "We also are using our CLIA-certified laboratory and our years of genomic know-how to provide information on tumor-specific mutations to cancer patients and their physicians. As the utility of cancer genomics evolves, we are considering a number of options for expanding our ability to serve the growing demand for patient-specific analyses that can help inform treatment decisions."

As part of its services, PGDx employs cancer exome analysis, an approach the company pioneered, to capture and selectively analyze the coding regions of the genome, enabling the comprehensive and reliable genome-wide identification of cancer-related mutations in all of the approximately 20,000 relevant genes. PGDx also provides in-depth computational analyses based on its proprietary methodologies to differentiate between unimportant and cancer-associated mutations.

The patented DK technology enables quantitative analysis of DNA copy number at high resolution with exceptional sensitivity. This method can identify large chromosomal changes in human cancer cells, along with amplifications and deletions, including those in regions not previously known to have been altered. DK has enabled a number of landmark discoveries in human cancer, such as identification of gene amplification of the therapeutically targetable OTX2 gene in medulloblastoma, detection of thymidylate synthase amplification as a mechanism of chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer and comprehensive copy number analyses in large-scale cancer genome analyses. The method can also be applied to other conditions, including analyses of chromosomal abnormalities in hereditary disorders. Digital Karotyping complements other technologies licensed from Hopkins, including the CHASM computational method for identifying cancer-related mutations, which are being applied to both research and diagnostic applications.

Under the terms of its agreement with Johns Hopkins, PGDx has the right to sub-license the DK technology to third parties.

Mr. Newton was recently recruited to PGDx after a 19-year career at Genzyme Corporation, where he held a number of roles in marketing, commercial development and drug development. He was most recently Vice President in the Oncology Division.

PGDx, which was originally located in the Johns Hopkins Science and Technology Park, has moved into larger laboratory and office facilities along the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore.

For more information on PGDx, visit: http://www.personalgenome.com/.

See the original post here:
Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. Licenses Genome -Mapping Technology from Johns Hopkins University and Expands Its ...

2/16/13 - Saving Private Genome - LFX - Raptor - HK416
Hey guys, in this video our objective was to save Genome. He was captured by terrorists and we must SAVE HIM! Enjoy the footage! Today we will be going to Red Dawn 3 so expect some awesome footage of that event! Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

By: IllestAirsoft

More:
2/16/13 - Saving Private Genome - LFX - Raptor - HK416 - Video

Genetics and Genome-Guided Personalized Medicine in Thailand Part3/3
Presented by Professor Wasun Chantratita Director of Pharmacogenomics project under collaboration between Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences, Mahidol University, Bangkok and Head of Virology and Molecular Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand The 2nd Meeting of South East Asian Pharmacogenomics Research Network (SEAPharm) Symposium for Genetic and Genome-Guided Personalized Medicine in Asia

By: ThePharmacogenomics

Read the original here:
Genetics and Genome-Guided Personalized Medicine in Thailand Part3/3 - Video

High-Throughput Screening at the Columbia Genome Center
Charles Karan, Scientific Director for High-Throughput Screening at the JP Sulzberger Columbia Genome Center, provides an overview of the services that the Genome Center provides. The Genome Center has technologies for automated liquid handling, robotic assay implementation, and high-throughput, high-content microscopy, as well as a large library of small molecules and shRNA probes. To learn more about high-throughput screening at Columbia University, visit genomecenter.columbia.edu

By: ColumbiaSystemsBio

See the original post here:
High-Throughput Screening at the Columbia Genome Center - Video

Jewish Genome Myth BUSTED!
Published by Snordster on Feb 28, 2013 JIM W Dean, writing for Press TV evokes an extraordinary vision based on the hardcore, self funded research of Dr. Eran Elhaik, who busts, wide open, and without a shred of doubt, the myth created by the zionists about their history. Article here: http://www.presstv.ir This vid is also available at: TruTube here: trutube.tv Never again!

By: TheGetjiggy

Visit link:
Jewish Genome Myth BUSTED! - Video

D012: Genome Rebellion
The Genome siblings work together to break free of Garland #39;s control. You know, this would #39;ve made a good final battle for that cancelled project I had. http://www.youtube.com Credit for the mod goes to Netherit/Eldritch Esper Credit for the voice goes to GracesGods

By: HikariSwordSlash

Read the original post:
D012: Genome Rebellion - Video

Face Genome - John Leon #39;s Seminar
John Leon Addressing Industry Leaders @ CII Annual Meeting 2013 - A Face Genome Seminar

By: Ann Jonathan

Follow this link:
Face Genome - John Leon's Seminar - Video

The Myth Of The Jewish Genome - No more biblical Jewish than Vlad Dracul (English: Vlad the Dragon)
Israel Is Nobody #39;s Friend By Gary Jacobucci - rense.com -There are the Hebrews...the Semitic race generally referred to in the bible. Many Hebrews, however, are not Jews, there are also Christian and Arab Hebrews...all are true Semitic peoples. Then there is Judaism, the religion. Lastly, there is world Zionism, a geopolitical movement that is atheistic in nature and worships wealth and power...and all that follows in its wake. As Joe Biden recently pointed out in a speech given in Israel, "I #39;m a Zionist; you don #39;t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist." The roots of Zionism, and the House of Rothschild, can be traced back to the Kazars of Southern Russian an important piece of history that #39;s been swept under the rug. The Kazars were of mixed Turkish and Mongol blood who made their living by raiding caravans traveling through their territory. Eventually, Kazaria became an empire and developed Kings and an aristocracy who began to look for a way of making a living that was less hazardous to their health. With their empire situated at the nexus of the caravan route, the Kazarian aristocracy decided to create wealth through usury - by charging interest on money lent. The Kazarian population was about one-third Christian, one-third Moslem and one-third Jewish - all getting along pretty well together. The problem was, at that time in the Middle Ages, both the Moslems and Christians considered charging interest - usury - a sin. Only Judaism allowed for the charging of interest to ...

By: redrik11

See the original post here:
The Myth Of The Jewish Genome - No more biblical Jewish than Vlad Dracul (English: Vlad the Dragon) - Video

Feb. 28, 2013 Earth Day may be more than a month away, but another, more personal, ecosystem has been shown to also be worth protecting -- within our bodies are communities of microbes that affect the behavior of human cells hosting them. These communities, called the "microbiome," is so crucial to our health that some consider it to be a complex "second genome." Understanding the interaction of these microbes among one another and their human hosts has the potential to yield insights into numerous diseases and complex human disorders from obesity to susceptibility to infection.

In a new report appearing in the March 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists take an important step toward designing a uniform protocol for microbiome research that ensures proper controls and considerations for variations among people. By doing this, future researchers should be able to better assess how what we ingest, whether drugs or food, affects our bodies.

"While historically pre and probiotics have dominated the microbiome landscape, emerging data from numerous labs as to the impact of dietary interventions and antibiotic exposure will play formative roles in tailoring therapy," said Kjersti M. Aagaard, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. "We may find that the answers to our most common and prevalent health and disease states lies not in manipulating the human genome, but rather, in utilizing subtle shifts in diet and components of the diet, efficacy trials in prophylactic or preventative antibiotic therapies, and care attention to the over prescription of steroids and antibiotics."

Aagaard and colleagues completed comprehensive body site sampling in healthy 18-40 year old adults, creating an unparalleled reference set of microbiome specimens. Researchers then screened 554 individuals to enroll 300 (149 males, 151 females, mean age 26, mean BMI 24, 20.0 percent racial minority and 10.7 percent Hispanic). Scientists obtained specimens from several body sites to evaluate the longitudinal changes in an individual's microbiome by sampling 279 participants twice (mean 212 days after first sampling, range 30-359), and 100 individuals three times (mean 72 days after second sampling, range 30-224). This sampling strategy yielded 11,174 primary specimens, from which 12,479 DNA samples were submitted to four centers for metagenomic sequencing. This clinical design and well-defined reference cohort has laid a baseline foundation for microbiome research.

"Whether it is yogurt, penicillin, or diet soda, each alters the microbial communities that live within us," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "This pioneering study promises to provide their names and numbers, so that we can understand how diet, disease or drugs affect our internal ecosystem."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Go here to read the rest:
After the human genome project: The human microbiome project

Photo: Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers/ Oregon State University Libraries Photo 51: This historic X-ray diffraction image of DNA, taken in 1952 by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, was obtained by stretching a fragile thread of crystalline DNA across a paper clip stuck in a cork, passing an X-ray beam through it for 100 hours, and capturing the results on photographic paper. Click on image to enlarge.

Next month marks the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick. To ordinary folks, the image (known as Photo 51) that confirmed the Watson-Crick model doesnt look like anything. But without this imageand without the brilliant work of X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklinthe Cambridge lads had a theory and a model but no actual proof that DNA was indeed the molecule of life. It took Franklins technical know-how and perseverance for that secret to be revealed.

Biology is now one of many sciences thats almost completely dependent on technology: The technologies that allow us to view human biology at the molecular level have driven the genomic revolution. Automation, robotics, high-speed processors, and sophisticated computer programs have taken what was once the painstaking handwork of DNA identification, isolation, preparation, and sequencing and turned them into digital processes. The first sequencing of the human genome took 13 years and US $3 billion. Now machines the size of a multipurpose office printer will soon be able to do the same for sums of about $1000, and all in a days time.

But what will this mean on a human level? Eliza Stricklands article in this issue, The Gene Machine and Me, is about her very personal experience with Ion Torrents semiconductor-based genome-sequencing machines. These machines, which turn chemical signals into digital form, are the latest demonstration of the powerful electronic technologies driving all things genomic. In an echo of events 60 years ago, when several labs [PDF] competed to discover the true nature of DNA, several companies are now racing to create genomic technology for widespread use.

Why is this significant? After all, for $100 you can already send away a bit of spit to a direct-to-consumer DNA testing company like 23andMe. Their results will tell you if youre related to Genghis Khan, carry disease traits you could pass on to your children, or have an elevated risk of developing diabetes. These companies use a technology that examines the million points on the genome that vary among individuals.

But being able to predict, prevent, or treat disease based on the sequencing of your entire genomewhich is made up of 3 billion componentsis a far more complicated business. Its also more rewarding. The collection and analysis of large sets of individual genomes should eventually help researchers establish the root causes of complex diseases and allow them to create individualized treatment and even cures.

Patient-driven, personalized, precision medicine has significant hurdles to overcome, and not just technical ones. One of the most important is how to sequence millions, if not billions, of people to broaden our understanding of which genes correspond to which disease vulnerabilities, as well as other inherited characteristics. And while were doing that, well need to develop more big-data software programs to sift through all the information from these genomesa single human genome alone is about 4 gigabytes.

Other big challenges include training doctors to use genomic information in their practices, getting pharmaceutical companies to give up their blockbuster drug revenue model, and goading insurance companies into abandoning their rigid reliance on actuarial tables. And all this must happen as we simultaneously take on the inevitable genetic discrimination problems and myriad other ethical issues that will spring up.

As the former editor of a biotechnology journal, I have seen lots of breakthroughs, revolutions, and quantum leaps heralded as being on the brink of transforming our lives forever. But these transformations never occur overnight and take years, often decades, to reveal themselves.

Thats the case with human genomics and its impact on medicine. Genetics has been poised to change medicine since Gregor Mendel tended his peas. In 10 years or so, after weve all had our genomes sequenced and are toting them around on our tricorders, the benefits for medicine of genome sequencing and its attendant technologies should become truly apparentas will all the tics and bumps that make each of us uniquely human.

See the article here:
Genome to Go