The Genome Center recently published the first paper (other centers' press releases notwithstanding) describing the sequencing of an entire animal genome with next-generation sequencing technology. We revisited our old friend, C. elegans, and published the paper, Whole-genome sequencing and variant discovery in C. elegans, in Nature Methods. Two different C. elegans strains were sequenced using the Solexa Sequence Analyzer (now Illumina Genome Analyzer) in about a week. Compare that to the years it took to... Full Post
Here is an article on genome sequencing, specifically using next-generation sequencers, for which I was interviewed. The article appeared in St. Louis Commerce Magazine so it is a bit of a fluff piece; but another way to look at it is that it is a gentle introduction. Here is another, more detailed article I was interviewed for in Bio-IT World titled SNPing Away at Genome-Wide Disease Association Studies. It is a good overview of whole-genome... Full Post
We recently published a paper in BMC Bioinformatics describing the laboratory information management system (LIMS) we have implemented at The Genome Center at Washington University. The title of the paper is Design and implementation of a generalized laboratory data model. BMC Bioinformatics is an open-access journal, so the paper is release under a Creative Commons license. A lot of the challenges we faced (and still face) in developing the LIMS are widely applicable in software... Full Post
Super Tuesday is tomorrow and my state, Missouri, will be participating. Missouri has open primaries. This means when you arrive at your polling place, you are asked whether you want the Democratic or Republican ballot. If you don't know where your polling place is, you can look it up here. You will need some form of identification to vote (it does not need to be a picture ID, a utility bill will work). It's easy,... Full Post
Several of the candidates from both parties have given talks and answered questions at Google. If you are interested in their takes on technology (and some other issues), they are worth a watch. Below is the video from the strongest proponent of network neutrality. Full Post