BOL: Related items

'What is Life? A 21st Century Perspective' by Dr Craig Venter

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 17:09:17 -0500

One of the landmark events of 20th century science was celebrated and reinterpreted for the 21st century in Trinity College Dublin on 12 July 2012 as part of the Science in the City programme of ESOF2012. Dr Craig Venter, one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project in the 1990s and a pioneer of synthetic biology delivered a lecture entitled, 'What is Life? A 21st century perspective' recreating the Irish event that inspired the discovery of the structure of DNA. In February, 1943 one of the most distinguished scientists of the 20th Century, Erwin Schrödinger, delivered a seminal lecture, entitled 'What is Life?', under the auspices of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, in Trinity College Dublin. The lecture presented far-sighted ideas on how hereditary information could be encoded in a chemical structure (aperiodic crystal) in living cells. Schrödinger's book (1944) of the same title is considered to be a scientific classic. The book was cited by Crick and Watson as one of the inspirations which ultimately led them to unravel the structure of DNA in 1953, a breakthrough which won them the Nobel prize.

University of California, Irvine - Center for Complex Biological Systems

Mon, 04 Nov 2013 17:10:29 -0600

The University of California Irvine's Center for Complex Biological Systems got its start just as there was a revolution in biology. Systems Biology requires that scientists work across many disciplines including engineering, physics and mathematics. The Center specializes in helping form the kinds of teams that will propel biological research into the future. It is also proud to be able to train students in the new interdisciplinary approach. http://ccbs.uci.edu

Surrogate Variable Analysis (SVA)

Jit — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 08:01:58 -0500

The sva package contains functions for removing batch effects and other unwanted variation in high-throughput experiment. Specifically, the sva package contains functions for the identifying and building surrogate variables for high-dimensional data sets. Surrogate variables are covariates constructed directly from high-dimensional data (like gene expression/RNA sequencing/methylation/brain imaging data) that can be used in subsequent analyses to adjust for unknown, unmodeled, or latent sources of noise. The sva package can be used to remove artifacts in three ways:

(1) identifying and estimating surrogate variables for unknown sources of variation in high-throughput experiments (Leek and Storey 2007 PLoS Genetics,2008 PNAS),

(2) directly removing known batch effects using ComBat (Johnson et al. 2007 Biostatistics) and

(3) removing batch effects with known control probes (Leek 2014 biorXiv).

Removing batch effects and using surrogate variables in differential expression analysis have been shown to reduce dependence, stabilize error rate estimates, and improve reproducibility, see (Leek and Storey 2007 PLoS Genetics, 2008 PNAS or Leek et al. 2011 Nat. Reviews Genetics).

More at http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/sva.html

Suisse Life Science Group

Rahul Agarwal — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 14:42:23 -0600

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Source is Linkedln link :

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Address of the bookmark: https://suisselifescience.com/

CBS Comparative Microbial Genomics group - BioTools download page

Neel — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 21:59:41 -0500

he CMG-biotools system presents a stand-alone interface for comparative microbial genomics. The package is a customized operating system, based on Xubuntu 10.10, available through the open source Ubuntu project. The system can be installed on a virtual computer, allowing the user to run the system alongside any other operating system. Source codes for all programs are provided under GNU license, which makes it possible to transfer the programs to other systems if so desired. We here demonstrate the package by comparing and analyzing the diversity within the class Negativicutes, represented by 31 genomes including 10 genera. The analyses include 16S rRNA phylogeny, basic DNA and codon statistics, proteome comparisons using BLAST and graphical analyses of DNA structures.

Paper: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0060120

Address of the bookmark: http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/biotools/CMGtools/

Synteny and Rearrangement Identifier (SyRI)

Jit — Tue, 05 May 2020 10:37:10 -0500

SyRI is a comprehensive tool for predicting genomic differences between related genomes using whole-genome assemblies (WGA). The assemblies are aligned using whole-genome alignment tools, and these alignments are then used as input to SyRI. SyRI identifies syntenic path (longest set of co-linear regions), structural rearrangements (inversions, translocations, and duplications), local variations (SNPs, indels, CNVs etc) within syntenic and structural rearrangements, and un-aligned regions.

Address of the bookmark: https://schneebergerlab.github.io/syri/

Breaking chromosomes to study cancer !!!

Jit — Fri, 18 Jul 2014 05:42:09 -0500

Chromosomes are present in every cell of our body and they contain the information the body needs to develop and function properly. This information is carried in genes that are arranged along the chromosomes. There are usually 46 chromosomes in every cell. These chromosomes come in pairs, one from our mother and one from our father. The chromosomes can be sorted into 23 pairs by looking at them down a microscope.

Most people who have a balanced translocation have the right amount of chromosome material but it has been rearranged in some way. This may happen if two chromosomes swap pieces (a reciprocal translocation). In other cases two whole chromosomes may become stuck together (a Robertsonian translocation). This page describes what happens when someone has a reciprocal translocation.

Reciprocal chromosomal translocations occur following double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA when a section of one chromosome is exchanged with that of another, non-homologous chromosome. These exchanges may produce a dysfunctional fusion gene that disrupts cell growth and survival pathways, such as the translocations seen in leukemia and childhood sarcomas.

Chromosomal translocations have been well studied in cancer cell lines which are associated with two types of cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and Ewing's sarcoma, but determining how they contribute to cancer development is complicated by additional mutations and altered gene expression profiles in these cultured cells. Now, Juan Carlos Ramirez, head of the Viral Vector Facility at the Fundacion Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and his colleagues Raul Torres at CNIC and Sandra Rodriguez-Peralez at the Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain have used a new genome editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9, to induce chromosomal translocations for the first time in a human cell line and in primary cells. The study's authors conclude by stating that the use of this technology will allow for the clarification of how and why chromosomal translocation occurs, which without doubt will allow new anti-cancer therapeutic strategies to be tackled.

Using RNA-Guided Endonuclease (RGEN) technology or CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technology, CNIO and CNIC researchers have shown that it is possible to obtain such chromosomal translocations. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is extremely simple to introduce a cut at the desired locus, easier to design, and cheaper than many other systems. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, Ramirez and his colleagues reproduced the translocations observed in Ewing’s Sarcoma (ES) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patient cell lines in HEK293 cells and also generated the ES translocation in human mesenchymal stem cells and the AML translocation in umbilical cord blood cells.

By focusing on chromosomal translocation without the confounding characteristics of established cell lines, these new cells lines should help answer the fundamental question of what causes a cell to become cancerous. Ramirez and his team now look forward to modeling other chromosome translocations in a variety of cell types.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosomal_translocation

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140603/ncomms4964/abs/ncomms4964.html

Postdoc in Genomics of Pipefishes and Seahorses at NSF-funded postdoctoral project in Adam Jones' Lab

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 21:22:24 -0600

An NSF-funded postdoctoral position is available in Adam Jones' Lab
at the University of Idaho to study the evolution and development of
the male's brood pouch in syngnathid fishes (seahorses, pipefishes
and seadragons). The project is being conducted in collaboration
with Dr. William Cresko's group at the University of Oregon. The
postdoc will be involved in studies of comparative genomics across
the family Syngnathidae, investigations of brood pouch morphology, and
characterization of the brood pouch microbiome. The position will be
funded for two years, with the possibility of a third year. The postdoc
will be based at the University of Idaho and will interact extensively
with the Cresko Lab at the University of Oregon.

The University of Idaho is in Moscow, a small college town located in
Northern Idaho on the Washington border. Moscow is widely considered to
be a great place to live, and it's known for a pleasant downtown, active
farmer's market, and nearby recreational opportunities. All of Moscow
is within biking or walking distance of the University of Idaho. For
more information about Moscow, see https://visitmoscowid.com/.

The University of Idaho has very strong faculty in evolution and
genomics in multiple departments and interdisciplinary programs. Of
particular note are the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Program (BCB: https://www.uidaho.edu/sci/bcb/people/faculty) and
the Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST:
https://www.ibest.uidaho.edu/index.php). In addition, the University of
Idaho is only eight miles from Washington State University in Pullman, and
faculty from the two institutions interact and collaborate extensively.

Minimum qualifications include: a Ph.D. in biological sciences,
bioinformatics, or a related discipline; experience conducting research
in genomics or evolutionary biology, as evidenced by publications
in peer-reviewed journals; and evidence of strong written and oral
communication skills. Experience analyzing next-generation sequence
data and familiarity with the genomics of marine fishes are desirable
but not required.

Apply at: https://uidaho.peopleadmin.com/postings/30003

Review of applications will begin January 15, 2021. The start date
is flexible.

The University of Idaho is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action/equal
access employer.

Informal inquiries are encouraged and can be directed to Adam Jones
(adamjones@uidaho.edu).

"adamjones@uidaho.edu"

Comparative Genomics Workshops !

Rahul Nayak — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:39:58 -0600

This meeting's objective was to obtain a big picture look at the current state of the field of comparative genomics with a focus on commonalities across genomic investigations into humans, model organisms (both traditional and non-traditional), agricultural species, wildlife species and microbes.

https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/perspectives-in-comparative-genomics-and-evolution

Address of the bookmark: https://www.genome.gov/event-calendar/perspectives-in-comparative-genomics-and-evolution

The Sheppard Lab

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 02:48:34 -0500

Ineos Oxford Institute of Antimicrobial Research – Department of Biology – University of Oxford

Our research centres on the use of genetics/genomics and phenotypic studies to address complex questions in the ecology, epidemiology and evolution of microbes. Our most recent interest focuses upon comparative genome analysis to describe the core and flexible genome of pathogenic bacteria (Campylobacter, Acinetobacter, Escherichia coli, Helicobacter, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus suis) and how this is related to population genetic structuring, the maintenance of species, and the evolution of host/niche adaptation and virulence.

More at https://sheppardlab.com/research/