Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

7 - 19 May, 2012 | Naples | Italy The course topics will include theoretical and practical aspects in: Large-scale genome comparisons Evolutionary analyses Sequence and genome alignments Orthologs prediction and classification Genome data visualization & Next Generation Sequencing tools & analysis Theoretical presentations will be followed by practical sessions, so that the same speaker will ensure links between theory and practice. Reviews on each suggested topic will include their corresponding research perspectives, aiming at helping young scientists to gain insights into ongoing research in this domain. Practical sessions in a Linux environment will involve Unix shell and Perl scripting. Students are assumed to be familiar with this environment. Do you wish to know more?

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is considering how next-generation genome sequencing (NGS) will be applied in studies of neurological disorders, and is asking researchers in this area for information about how they plan to use the latest sequencing tools and genomic data in their work. To find out how researchers aim to use next-gen whole genome sequencing (WGS), and what the needs are for sequencing, data storage, analysis, and annotation services, NINDS has released a new request for information seeking feedback from the extramural research community. NINDS will use this feedback to inform and complement its efforts to assess the current and future whole genome sequencing needs of researchers studying a wide range of neurologic disease, and conducting basic research into the nervous system, the genetics of the brain, cognition, brain plasticity, neural signaling, learning, memory, motor control, and other areas.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) have consistently observed strong evidence of association with polymorphisms in   APOE . However, until recently, variants at few other loci with statistically significant associations have replicated across studies. The present study combines data on 483,399 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a previously reported GWAS of 492 LOAD cases and 496 controls and from an independent set of 439 LOAD cases and 608 controls to strengthen power to identify novel genetic association signals.   Studies looking for genetic variants across the genome that affect late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) have had little success identifying genes other than  APOE . Here, we use an expanded set of AD cases and controls to improve our power to detect genetic variants driving LOAD risk. Analyzing 483,399 genetic variants across the genome in a discovery dataset of 931 cases and 1,104 controls, we found a s...

The National Institutes of Health has awarded 970 stimulus grants worth more than $625 million — around 14 percent of total NIH stimulus grant funding to date — to projects that fall within the broad family of 'omics disciplines, according to a preliminary analysis of the NIH funding database conducted by GenomeWeb Daily News . As of Sept. 30, the close of the fiscal year, the National Institutes of Health had awarded a total of $5 billion in stimulus funding — nearly half of the $10 billion appropriation that NIH will disburse over two years under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . The $5 billion figure includes both grants and contracts, however. For grants alone, NIH had awarded approximately $4.4 billion via 12,789 ARRA grants as of Oct. 7, according to the database. The 970 grants awarded to 'omics projects comprise 7.5 percent of the stimulus grants awarded so far, but the total funding awarded to these projects makes up 14 percent of NIH ARRA grant ...