We are ending the first half of the year with a webcast featuring our entire clinical software stack: Golden Helix’s End-to-End Solution for Clinical Labs. This webcast is scheduled for Wednesday, June 7th at noon EST, and it’s not one you’ll want to miss! Here are the full details: Wednesday, June 7th 12:00 pm EST In this webcast we will provide an… Read more »
Today, we are happy to announce a multi-year partnership with Sentieon, a company that develops bioinformatics secondary analysis tools to process genomic data. This partnership will integrate Sentieon’s secondary analysis tools with Golden Helix software to provide users with a comprehensive solution for genomic data analysis. Sentieon’s suite of secondary analysis tools made the significant improvement in runtime over BWA-MEM, GATK,… Read more »
Last week was fast and furious for those of us who made it to Phoenix attending ACMG 2017. The event was exceptionally well attended, with great talks and sessions. Here are some of the highlights that are worth mentioning from our perspective. Numerous talks referenced how important the updated Exac/gnomAD database is for clinical NGS analysis. The new dataset includes… Read more »
ACMG 2017 is just around the corner! We are halfway through March already and it’s just about time to head off to sunny and warm Phoenix, Arizona. While the temps have been mostly mild for the last few weeks in Montana, I bet those of you in the northeast are looking forward to your time in Phoenix! You will find… Read more »
Just as we expected, 2017 has kicked off with a flurry of new publications by our customers. We even had a publication from a client using our VarSeq software! Congratulations to all, please take a look at some of the articles we have highlighted below: Reza Sailani of Stanford University and colleagues published Association of AHSG with alopecia and mental retardation… Read more »
It’s hard to believe that summer has already faded into fall and that ASHG 2016 is right around the corner! 2016 has been quite a busy year for us so far at Golden Helix. We have been working hard to bring our community the very best tools available for variant interpretation and SNP analysis. This year at ASHG, you can… Read more »
After the Wet Lab process has been completed, the bioinformatics analysis of the sequencing data work begins. The next three blogs will focus on three aspects of this process. The building blocks of a bioinformatics pipeline, documentation and validation (today’s topic) Quality Management Clinical Reporting The Building Blocks of an NGS PipelineThe bioinformatics process to analyze NGS data occurs in three… Read more »
As spring ends and summer begins here in Montana, we wanted to share another round of customer publications. It’s so important to us that our software plays a role in our client’s success, and we love to display the fruit of their hard efforts each month. Here are a few of the publication highlights: Bradley Aouizerat of UCSF and colleagues published… Read more »
This last week I had the pleasure of attending the fourth annual Clinical Genome Conference (TCGC) in Japantown, San Francisco and kicking off the conference by teaching a short course on Personal Genomics Variant Analysis and Interpretation. Some highlights of the conference from my perspective: Talking about clinical genomics is no longer a wonder-fest of individual case studies, but a… Read more »
Utilizing Identical Twins Discordant for Schizophrenia to Uncover de novo Mutations We are living in exciting times – the reality of high-resolution Cand individual genome sequencing now offers renewed hope in the search for the causes of complex diseases. When this technology is combined with genetic relationships, individual sequences add unrivaled proficiency. Our lab is located in London, Ontario, Canada… Read more »
Editor’s Note: This case study was written while Dr. Gonzalo Rincon was with the University of California, Davis. Dr. Rincon is now working as a Principal Investigator in Animal Genetics at Zoetis. Gonzalo Rincon, DVM is a Project Scientist in the Medrano Lab, part of the Department of Animal Science, at the University of California, Davis. While the lab works… Read more »
My work in the GHI analytical services department gives me the opportunity to handle data from a variety of sources. I have learned over time that every genotyping platform has its own personality. Every time we get data from a new chip, I tend to learn something new about the quirks of genotyping technology. I usually discover these quirks the… Read more »
Speaking as somebody with a long history in data analysis, there are few things I find more exciting and tantalizing than new analysis methods that might apply to a problem I am trying to solve or was unable to solve in the past. Whenever I make a breakthrough in one project, I find I want to abandon the current project… Read more »
A GPU can produce an enormous boost in performance for many scientific computing applications. Since we announced the availability of SNP & Variation Suite’s incorporation of GPUs to dramatically speed up copy number segmentation, we’ve received numerous inquiries on recommendations for what GPU to purchase. Unfortunately the technical terminology and choices can be a bit confusing. In this article I… Read more »
The advances in DNA sequencing are another magnificent technological revolution that we’re all excited to be a part of. Similar to how the technology of microprocessors enabled the personalization of computers, or how the new paradigms of web 2.0 redefined how we use the internet, high-throughput sequencing machines are defining and driving a new era of biology. Biologists, geneticists, clinicians,… Read more »
Let’s kick off this month’s recognition with Audrey Papp and Wolfgang Sadee at Ohio State University for their work on “Flavopiridol Pharmacogenetics: Clinical and Functional Evidence for the Role of SLCO1B1/OATP1B1 in Flavopiridol Disposition” just published in PLoS ONE. (All abstracts below.) Also in pharmacogenetics (albeit in mice) this month is Tristan Sissung at the NIH National Cancer Research. His… Read more »
Recognition this month begins with Eric Londin at Coriell Institute for Medical Research for his publication in PLoS ONE: “CoAIMs: A Cost-Effective Panel of Ancestry Informative Markers for Determining Continental Origins.” (Abstract below). Also recently published in PLoS ONE is Chiara Magri with Brescia University School of Medicine on her study locating new CNVs in schizophrenia. (Abstract below) Skipping over… Read more »
Why should a genetic researcher care about the latest in video gaming technology? The answer is video graphics cards or Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). For certain computational tasks, a single GPU can perform as well as an entire cluster of CPUs for only a fraction of the cost. And because video gaming has grown into a highly competitive multi-billion dollar… Read more »
The scripting environment in SVS 7 allows for cross-communication between the powerful Python scripting language and the tools used in data analysis. Scripting is often the most effective way to make new features available to customers prior to new software releases. We often write scripts based on a specific customer’s need and then expand availability to all customers, many who… Read more »
Over the past 3 years, Golden Helix has analyzed dozens of public and customer whole-genome and candidate gene datasets for a host of studies. Though genetic research certainly has a number of complexities and challenges, the number one problem we encounter, which also has the greatest repercussions, is born of problematic experimental design. In fact, about 95% of the studies… Read more »
