The first whole genome analysis of an octopus reveals unique features that likely played a role in the evolution of traits such as large complex nervous systems and adaptive camouflage. An international team of scientists sequenced the genome of the California two-spot octopus—the first cephalopod ever to be fully sequenced—and mapped gene expression profiles in 12 different tissues. The findings are published online Aug. 12 in Nature.(more…)
UD Consumer Analytics and Industry Applications conference discusses big data
In the era of big data come big questions about how to use it. These questions and more were the backdrop of the recent Consumer Analytics and Industry Applications conference, put on by the University of Delaware’s Institute for Financial Services Analytics (IFSA).
Big data has exploded into the mainstream, and very soon harnessing the power of information won’t just be a matter of profitability, but of survival. Microsoft has the tools to help businesses survive and thrive in the dawning age of big data.
REDMOND, Wash. – Feb. 13, 2013 – For the first time in history, it’s going to start raining information.
Hallelujah or headache? For businesses, it’s all about being ready to ride this perfect storm of big data – and their understanding of what’s at stake. (more…)
Sequencing the barley genome will sow many benefits
Some 10,000 years ago, people found they didn’t have to live as nomads, hunting and gathering all their food. In the Fertile Crescent, they started planting crops.
The Fertile Crescent extended from the Nile Valley and along the eastern Mediterranean Coast, through the Tigris and Euphrates valleys of Mesopotamia and down to the Persian Gulf. There, the foundation crops of the Western World were first domesticated.(more…)
TeselaGen’s DNA construction technology makes genetic engineering cheaper and faster.
Sequencing, splicing and expressing DNA may seem to be the quintessence of cutting-edge science—indeed DNA manipulation has revolutionized fields such as biofuels, chemicals and medicine. But in fact, the actual process can still be tedious and labor-intensive, something Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientist Nathan Hillson learned the hard way.
After struggling for two days to design a protocol to put together a genetic circuit with 10 pieces of DNA—using a spreadsheet as his primary tool—he was dismayed to discover that an outside company could have done the whole thing, including parts and labor, for lower cost than him ordering the oligonucleotides himself. “I learned two things: one, I never wanted to go through that process again, and two, it’s extremely important to do the cost-effectiveness calculation,” said Hillson, a biochemist who also directs the synthetic biology program at the Berkeley Lab-led Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). “So that was the genesis of the j5 software. This is the perfect thing to teach a computer to do.” (more…)
