Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

BACKGROUND: Applications are invited from CSIR qualified candidates (or candidates with DBT/DST/ICMR/INSA funding) for a doctoral position in Defence R&D Organization, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The doctoral position is in the area of Bioinformatics. The area of research is understanding human acclimatization in extreme environmental conditions. HOW TO APPLY: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate's professional qualifications to pkhurana08[at] gmail.com . Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Khurana Scientist 'C' Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Defence R&D Organization, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, New Delhi

Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission (GSBTM), Gujarat Venture Finance Limited (GVFL) & Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) along with SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd. (Knowledge Partner) PRESENTS BIOTECHNOPRENEUR TM  CAMPS 2012 Life Sciences | Medical Devices | Biotechnology | Pharmaceuticals Fostering Technology based Entrepreneurship in Gujarat The journey of Biopreneur Camps 2011 from Surat, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Baroda and Ahmedabad saw 100 participants at each venue; graced by the presence of eminent guests including Mr. Ketan Patel, MD, Troikaa Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Director, The Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), Govt. of Gujarat; Dr. Ravi Dhar, Senior Consultant – Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Programme (BIRAP) of Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, Dr. V. S. Patel, Ex-Vice Chancellor, S. P. University and Director, Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre for Applied Research and Testing (SICART) and many more in additio...

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announced today the acquisition of the business assets of  Ariadne Genomics , a provider of pathway analysis tools and semantic technologies for life science researchers. Ariadne will be integrated with Elsevier's Corporate Markets division. "Ariadne Genomics' pathway analysis tools and semantic technologies integrate research findings from across multiple content sources providing a deeper understanding of biological pathways and disease progression. Ariadne's products improve research productivity and outcomes for life science researchers by delivering new insights for potential interventions, therapies and cures," said Alexander van Boetzelaer, Managing Director of Elsevier Corporate Markets. "Ariadne brings to Elsevier an information offering in the biology domain and a passionate and dedicated team of life science professionals. Ariadne's team ...

December 12, 2011 Applications are invited for the GN Ramachandran Fellowships recently instituted by the CCBB, DBT-COE, JNU to encourage young scholars to work in the interdisciplinary research in the field of computational biology. The fellowship is meant for brilliant scientists and engineers from all over the world to take up scientific research positions at SCIS, JNU. SCOPE :  Computational Biology & Data Mining. QUALIFICATION & BACKGROUND: i) The fellowship is open to brilliant scientists and engineers who are below the age of 35 years . ii) The applicant should possess a Ph.D. in Science/Engineering and have adequate professional experience. iii) These Fellowships are very selective and only those who have a proven/outstanding track-record as evident from their research publications and recognitions would be eligible. ELIGIBILITY FOR JUNIOR FELLOW : 1. Ph.D. in any branch of natural sciences. 2. At least 2 years Post-Doc experience in theoretical/computation...

A new study in Cell shows that C. elegans doesn't need DNA or even epigenetics to pass traits down through the generations , says 80beats' Veronique Greenwood. Some worms can use RNA to fight off viruses and that these molecules — and the ability to fight the virus — can be passed on for more than 100 generations, she adds. The researchers engineered worms that didn't have the genes to make the RNAs necessary to fight a virus, and then bred them with worms that did have these genes for several generations. Some of the resulting offspring had ancestors with the virus-fighting molecules, but didn't have the genes themselves. But when they observed the worms under the microscope, Greenwood says, the researchers saw that the gene-less worms were still fighting off the virus like their grandparents had. The researchers speculate that "the RNA molecules made by the original worms in response to a virus attack were floating around in the cytoplasm of the eggs and sperm th...

For Indian laboratories, the decision to implement  informatics applications that support compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 delivers multiple benefits. They are protecting their access to regulated markets in the US and other countries while implementing electronic processes and procedures that can reduce costs while enhancing their ability to deliver world class results.

PerkinElmer is pleased to announce that today it completed the acquisition of Caliper Life Sciences, an exciting milestone in PerkinElmer’s evolution. The purchase, announced in September . Bringing Caliper into PerkinElmer will significantly strengthen leadership position in the growing area of personalized medicine, providing pharmaceutical companies and clinicians with the tools and knowledge they need to enable individualized diagnoses and treatments. PKI's work moving ahead in this emerging field will be made possible by an outstanding team of people from Caliper and PerkinElmer collaborating together to leverage the combined power of their knowledge and expertise to deliver insight-driven innovations. Bio-discovery and Caliper will combine to form PerkinElmer’s new Life Sciences & Technology (LST) Strategic Business Element (SBE). In a statement today, Robert Friel, chairman and CEO of PerkinElmer, said that he is confident that joining together these two organization...

PerkinElmer reported after the close of the market on Thursday that revenues in the third quarter rose 8 percent year over year, but it missed analyst estimates on the top line. Total revenues in the quarter ended Oct. 2 rose to $453.7 million, compared to $419.1 million a year ago but fell short of Wall Street estimates of $469.6 million. On an organic basis, revenues were up 4 percent year over year. The firm has made a number of purchases throughout 2011 and in the quarter those acquisitions contributed more than $20 million to the top line, CFO Frank Wilson said on a conference call after the release of the company's earnings results. The Human Health segment grew revenues to $207.4 million, up 7 percent from $194.5 million a year ago, while Environmental Health climbed to $246.3 million, a 10 percent increase from $224.6 million a year ago. On the conference call, Chairman and CEO Robert Friel said that during the quarter, growth was seen across all major geographies and most ...

The Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute has chosen 41 research projects out of 152 applicants to use its sequencing services under its 2012 Community Sequencing Program, JGI said Thursday. Researchers for this year's CSP program, which provides the scientific community with access to JGI's high-throughput sequencing technologies, proposed projects to study plant-microbe interactions, how microbes are involved in carbon capture and greenhouse gas emission, and metagenomics. “These selections truly take advantage of the DOE JGI’s massive-scale sequencing and data analysis capabilities,” DOE JGI Director Eddy Rubin said in a statement.  “The projects span the globe and the unexplored branches of the tree of life, and promise to yield a better understanding of the interplay between climate, ecosystem, and organism.  Still other projects are targeting improvements in biofuel feedstock production, focusing on the potential of microorganisms to improve feedstock growth a...

The Centre for Applied Genomics (TCAG) at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto has reeled in C$5.1 million (US$5 million) from the Ontario Genomics Institute to support its operations, OGI said today. TCAG provides a range of core services including gene and genome sequencing; microarrays and genotyping; cytogenomics and biobanking; and statistical and informational services. The two years of funding was awarded under the Genome Canada Science and Technology Innovation Centre Competition. TCAG was founded in 1998 and it provides research support to labs involved in a wide array of genomic disciplines including human health, agriculture, and plant and animal studies.

The role of dichotomous properties of D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons for the dynamics and function of striatum The striatum is the main input station of the basal ganglia and is strongly associated with motor and cognitive functions. It is a recurrently connected network of GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSNs), which receive strong feedforward inhibition from the fast spiking interneurons and massive excitatory afferents from various regions of the neocortex via the cortico-striatal projection neurons. Interestingly, neighboring MSNs do not share their presynaptic inputs. Recently, we have shown that this special structure of cortico-striatal projections provides optimal conditions for the representation of cortical inputs in the striatum. The MSN population in the striatum can be segregated into two types: D1 type MSNs project to the globus palidus external (indirect path) and D2 MSNs project to the globus palidus internal (direct path). Recent experiments have revealed a great degr...

Inching toward the  Dawn of the GATTACA era ! , making up history as we went along.  A group of researchers will use a $2.5 million federal grant to study the ethical and legal implications of providing genetic research results to the relatives of people who donated samples to biobanks, Mayo Clinic said today. The grant from the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute will fund researchers at Mayo, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Minnesota who will study what families prefer, will analyze the legal and ethical issues, and propose recommendations for best practices policies. "Substantial debate surrounds the question of whether researchers have an ethical obligation to return individual research results to genetic relatives of patients, especially when the patient has died, and incidental findings have potential health or reproductive importance for kin," Gloria Petersen, the Purvis and Roberta ...

http://www.rhythmicenergy.org/ index.php?option=com_content&v iew=article&id=39&Itemid=15 Look for RE on Air 94.3 FM Bangalore In case you face any bandwidth issues try this one!  http://soundcloud.com/arvind-sai/re-interview

Abstract Whole genome amplification by the multiple displacement amplification (MDA) method allows sequencing of DNA from single cells of bacteria that cannot be cultured. Assembling a genome is challenging, however, because MDA generates highly nonuniform coverage of the genome. Here we describe an algorithm tailored for short-read data from single cells that improves assembly through the use of a progressively increasing coverage cutoff. Assembly of reads from single  Escherichia coli  and  Staphylococcus aureus  cells captures >91% of genes within contigs, approaching the 95% captured from an assembly based on many  E. coli  cells. We apply this method to assemble a genome from a single cell of an uncultivated SAR324 clade of Deltaproteobacteria, a cosmopolitan bacterial lineage in the global ocean. Metabolic reconstruction suggests that SAR324 is aerobic, motile and chemotaxic. Our approach enables acquisition of genome assemblies for individual uncu...

PerkinElmer, Inc. , a global leader focused on improving the health and safety of people and the environment, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire  Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. , a  Hopkinton, Massachusetts -based leader in imaging and detection solutions for life sciences research, diagnostics and environmental markets, for  $10.50  per share, for a total net purchase price of approximately  $600 million  in cash. Robert F. Friel , chairman and chief executive officer,  PerkinElmer , said, "The acquisition of  Caliper Life Sciences  brings innovative molecular imaging and detection technologies to our portfolio, complementing our world-leading offerings in life science, diagnostics, environmental and food markets." Friel added, "The R&D, application expertise, and intellectual property of the combined organization will provide our customers with enhanced knowledge and services and a strong pipeline of in...

2nd International Conference on  Perspective of Cell Signaling and Molecular Medicine   8 to 11 January, 2012  Organised by  Bose Institute, Kolkata Instructions for Submission of Abstract : 1. Only abstracts containing new results will be accepted. Abstracts should clearly and adequately describe the objectives and results of the research. All abstracts must be submitted in English. All abstracts must be accompanied by a completed Conference Registration Form made out in the name of one of the Authors. a. Each abstract should include a title (in capital letters), name(s) of all authors (underline the presenting author), affiliation and email address. b. Type entire abstract single-spaced; typing area: width 12.0 cm (4.7 inches), height 24 cm (9.4 inches). c. Careful typing and proof-reading are essential. Registration : Registration fees : Rs. 4,000/ (Scientist); Rs. 2,500/ (Students including post-docs) Late Registration fees : Rs. 5,000/ and Rs. 3,500/ r...