BOL: Neel's News

NCBIBLAST+ 2.14.1 now available

Neel — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:36:13 -0500

#NCBIBLAST+ 2.14.1 now available with improved documentation, faster and more reliable database downloads, and some bug fixes.

Check out the changes they made.

They added the cleanup-blastdb-volumes.py script to remove unused BLAST database volumes. Read the documentation here.

They also switched the protocol from ftp to https to access BLAST databases for increased performance and reliability when downloading data from the NCBI with the update_blastdb.pl script.

And fixed a few bugs related to downloading data from the NCBI, and mt_mode crashing blastn and blastx.

Check out the release notes.

Download BLAST+ 2.14.1

Questions or comments? Please write the BLAST help desk.

More info and download: https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/doc/blast-news/2023-BLAST-News.html

GenBank release 257.0 is now available!

Neel — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 00:23:23 -0500

GenBank release 257.0 is now available! This release has 25.10 trillion bases and 3.69 billion records. Learn more: https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2023/08/21/genbank-release-257/

GenBank release 257.0 (8/15/2023) is now available on the NCBI FTP site. This release has 25.10 trillion bases and 3.69 billion records.

The current release has:

246,119,175 traditional records containing 2,112,058,517,945 base pairs of sequence data
2,631,493,489 WGS records containing 22,294,446,104,543 base pairs of sequence data
686,271,945 bulk-oriented TSA records containing 646,176,166,908 base pairs of sequence data
124,421,006 bulk-oriented TLS records containing 48,289,699,026 base pairs of sequence data

NCBI BLAST have added new columns to the Descriptions

Neel — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 09:56:07 -0600

NCBI BLAST have added new columns to the Descriptions Table for web BLAST output. The new columns are Scientific Name, Common Name, Taxid, and Accession Length. Common Name and Accession Length are now part of the default display. You can click 'Select columns' or 'Manage columns' to add or remove columns from the display Your preferences will be saved for your next visit to BLAST, and when you download your results, whatever columns you have displayed will be saved. See the NCBI Insights post (https://go.usa.gov/x7fPE) for more details.

Submit your SARS-CoV-2 sequence data to GenBank

Neel — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 18:28:25 -0500

Submit your SARS-CoV-2 sequence data to GenBank and SRA with our new submission landing page. Submission is simple and streamlined *and* there’s a rapid turnaround. https://submit.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sarscov2/

Quickly and easily add your SARS-CoV-2 sequence data to the growing public archive with new, special features and support from NCBI. new SARS-CoV-2 sequence submission landing page will help you get started. GenBank submissions are accessioned and released in approximately 1-2 working days, and Sequence Read Archive (SRA) submissions typically processed and released within hours. Submission is simple!

More information is available on NCBI Insights. https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2020/04/09/sars-cov2-data-streamlined-submission-rapid-turnaround/

China’s BGI says it can sequence a genome for just $100

Neel — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 04:49:43 -0600

Using technology originally acquired in the US, the Chinese gene giant BGI Group says it will make genome sequencing cheaper than ever, breaking the $100 barrier for the first time.

The Shenzhen company says the low cost will be possible with an “extreme” DNA sequencing system it plans to offer that is capable of decoding the genomes of 100,000 people a year.

Ref: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615289/china-bgi-100-dollar-genome/

Naegleria fowleri: brain eating amoebae

Neel — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 22:12:03 -0500

Naegleria fowleri is a free living, universally distributed amoeba, which is mostly found in natural, stagnant, warm water bodies such as ponds, lakes, etc. It is also reported to be present even in indoor water bodies, such as swimming pools within a temperature range of 40–45°C.

N. fowleri infects the central nervous system of human body by entering through the nose during swimming and outdoor baths in natural stagnant water bodies, leading to meningoencephalitis. It is a condition of inflammation of cerebral tissues and membranes of the brain and is mostly fatal in nature. Casualties due to N. fowleri infections are reported all across the globe including a few in India but only seven survivors in the entire world have been reported till 2015.

You can find two genome assembly at

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assembly/?term=naegleria%20fowleri

More at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/search/all/?term=naegleria+fowleri

You can't hide from Genome Hackers

Neel — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 14:17:28 -0500

Young computational biologist named Yaniv Erlich shocked the research world by showing it was possible to unmask the identities of people listed in anonymous genetic databases using only an Internet connection

Paper: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/10/10/science.aau4832

More at https://www.wired.com/story/genome-hackers-show-no-ones-dna-is-anonymous-anymore/

Bioinformatics Contest 2017!

Neel — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 14:03:37 -0600

Bioinformatics Contest 2017! Rosalind is co-organizer.
Compete with thousands of people worldwide on bioinformatics problem solving.
Everything is online. Qualification round starts on January 23, 2017. Final is on Feb 18.

You will need to solve bioinformatics problems using programming. The goal is to correctly solve as many problems as possible within 24 hours. Some of them will be approximation problems and will have partial grades. All rounds will be held online, submissions will be auto-graded in real time.

Check more at http://contest.bioinf.me/

Good luck!

Cancer research database

Neel — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 17:36:31 -0500

Researchers in Andhra Pradesh have developed a database to identify genes that are common in tumours to provide their colleagues with easy access to insights into the genetic alterations in cancer.

The database, hosted at the Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) in Tirupati, will integrate information on cancer genes and markers with experimental data.

The Cancer Gene Markers Database (CGMD) is meant to help scientists better understand tumour genes and markers at a molecular level by combining data with literature on treatment regimen and recent advances in cancer therapy.

The database is free to access, and already includes 309 genes and 206 markers that correspond to 40 different human cancers. Accompanying literature comes from databases such as the United States’ National Center for Biotechnology Information and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. It also includes experimental data from PubMed.

In a paper published last month in Nature Scientific Reports, the researchers from SVU’s department of animal biotechnology, describes the need for a database for different genes and markers along with their molecular characteristics and pathway associations.

The 8000 years old Tibetian gene mutation !!!

Neel — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 21:57:44 -0500

A new study has provided insight into how gene mutation around 8,000 years ago helped Tibetans' to survive in the thin air on the Tibetan Plateau, where an average elevation is of 14,800 feet.

A study led by University of Utah scientists is the first to find a genetic cause for the adaptation, a single DNA base pair change that dates back 8,000 years and demonstrate how it contributes to the Tibetans' ability to live in low oxygen conditions.

About 8,000 years ago, the gene EGLN1 changed by a single DNA base pair. Today, a relatively short time later on the scale of human history, 88 percent of Tibetans have the genetic variation, and it was virtually absent from closely related lowland Asians. The findings indicate the genetic variation endows its carriers with an advantage.

In those without the adaptation, low oxygen caused their blood to become thick with oxygen-carrying red blood cells, an attempt to feed starved tissues, which could cause long-term complications such as heart failure. The researchers found that the newly identified genetic variation protected Tibetans by decreasing the over-response to low oxygen.

Reference: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v512/n7513/abs/nature13408.html