Variant interpretation is a critical aspect of any clinical NGS workflow. VarSeq assessment catalogs are a tool used to save variants and associated variant information for easy tracking and retrieval of completed variant interpretations. As variant interpretations stack up and classifications are saved, storing in assessment catalogs makes it easy to automatically fill in a previous interpretation if the variant… Read more »
Assessment catalogs are a way for VarSeq users to save variants and variant information for clinically relevant variants, so when you come across this variant again in another sample, all of the work to analyze and classify the variant is already done! But there is more than meets to the eye when it comes to using assessments in VarSeq. Being… Read more »
While the analysis of gene fusions is crucial for understanding the genetic basis of cancer, the process of interpreting these mutations can be challenging. One important component of fusion interpretation is the identification of relevant publications. To aid researchers in the search for publications related to specific gene fusions, Felix Mitelman, and colleagues have created the Mitelman Database of Chromosome… Read more »
VarSeq 2.3.0 unleashed a whole new way to select, process, analyze, and report cancer variants through complete workflow automation, application of evaluation scripts, and enhanced annotation. Single nucleotide variants, copy number variants, structural variants, and genomic signatures could be added to a single patient evaluation, and Golden Helix CancerKB came packed with new report-ready interpretations to support them! Soon after,… Read more »
Discover how to enhance collaboration in VSClinical by sharing variant scores and assessment catalogs through the strategic relocation of the AppData folder. A subtle but powerful utility of VSClinical concerns the ability to share variant scores between users on the same account. What I mean by that is, leveraging the location of the AppData folder, so that users are writing… Read more »
In recent weeks, GenomeBrowse capabilities have had a sudden resurgence of interest among our customers. To support this, the FAS team wanted to share with you several under-utilized GenomeBrowse plotting tricks. First, let’s cover plotting a BED file for easy track viewing. The first step is launching a GenomeBrowse window by clicking the + button and selecting GenomeBrowse (Figure 1)… Read more »
Discover the Latest Developments in Variant Classification and Interpretation Tools at Golden Helix’s Booth at AMP Europe 2023 in Milan, Italy We are thrilled to announce that Golden Helix will be participating in the AMP Europe 2023 conference in Milan! We are eagerly looking forward to connecting with leading healthcare professionals and researchers in the field of genetics at this… Read more »
Greetings VarSeq users! VarSeq 2.4.0 has officially been released. VarSeq 2.4.0 is a significant release that focuses on enhancing the VSClinical ACMG workflow by introducing new features and noteworthy improvements. The major highlights of the release are: 1. Welcoming structural variant support to the VSClinical ACMG workflow 2. ACMG workflow automation has been enhanced via the application of evaluation scripts… Read more »
In our recent webcast, we discussed the exciting new features of VarSeq 2.4.0 and the updated VSClinical interface. The discussion was centered around three main topics: In summary, VarSeq 2.4.0 uniquely supports the analysis of all variant types in the clinical interpretation workflow. By incorporating structural variants, enhancing automation, and empowering users to handle complex data, it offers a comprehensive… Read more »
Learn how VarSeq revolutionizes NGS workflows by enabling the integration of comprehensive internal databases, allowing bioinformaticians to create custom pipelines and maximize data analysis efficiency. Are you a current (or future) VarSeq user with a perfect, comprehensive, internal database you simply can’t part with and can’t replicate? Do you dream of coalescing many disparate workflows into a consistent, reliable pipeline?… Read more »
A new VSPipeline command, set_data_folder_path, designed to bolster consistent input usage. By introducing this innovative command, we aim to empower users with improved data organization, flexibility, and standardization for their clinical cases and analyses. Embracing this command will not only support reproducibility but also ensure accountability, ultimately paving the way for better-informed patient care decisions. Managing Annotations and References in… Read more »
Use the force of evaluation scripts to automate and customize your VSClinical ACMG workflow in VarSeq 2.4.0. VarSeq 2.3.0 came packed with new features! Most notably, VarSeq variant analysis expanded to support the import and annotation of structural variant files, and the AMP cancer workflow in VSClinical gained new functionality with the addition of evaluation scripts which help automate and… Read more »
These customer publications highlight our platform’s versatility in transforming NGS analysis for Late-Onset Pompe Disease and Developmental Dyslexia, leading to breakthroughs in comprehending complex genetic disorders and enabling novel treatment avenues. The versatility of our VarSeq platform is in full bloom this spring! Below are two examples of the scalability of our software as well as the complex analysis that… Read more »
Unlock the potential of VarSeq for efficient analysis of structural variants, providing robust annotation, filtering, and interpretation of intricate genetic variations. While the analysis of structural variants (SVs) is crucial for understanding the genetic basis of disease, the process of interpreting these variations can be a challenging and complex task. Structural variant callers typically store rearrangements in VCF files, which… Read more »
Discover the power of VSClinical’s Interpretation Match Behavior options for managing the scope of somatic variants in cancer reporting, enabling clinical teams to make informed treatment decisions. Multiple interpretations can apply to a single biomarker or tumor type. In some circumstances, a clinical team may only want to report the most relevant and significant biomarker, treatment, diagnosis, or prognosis interpretations… Read more »
Unlocking the intricacies of fusion representations is crucial for understanding the impact of complex genetic rearrangements on gene function and disease development. In the most recent release of VarSeq, we added support for the import of complex rearrangements from VCF files, which typically encode rearrangements using breakend notation. This powerful notation is capable of describing the full spectrum of structural… Read more »
A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a BED File from RefSeq for Accurate Data Analysis Our FAS team has received a flurry of inquiries recently, asking how to run coverage statistics on their projects without a pre-defined BED file. We’re here to help! To analyze sample coverage statistics, you’ll need a BAM or CRAM file that displays the read depth coverage… Read more »
Discover the innovative clinical evidence search of the VSClinical AMP workflow, where patient biomarkers and tumor types are matched to the most relevant data from top sources like CIViC, DrugBank, and Clinical Trials. One of the core features of the VSClinical AMP interpretation workflow is the ability to search third-party data sources to find clinical evidence that matches the patient’s… Read more »
This month we are thrilled once again to highlight two publications in which VarSeq plays an important role in the genetic testing pipeline. The continuing advances in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) are assisting researchers and clinicians in gaining a deeper understanding of complex human syndromes, often referred to as congenital regulopathies. In this first study, genetic variants were discovered that… Read more »
Our recent webcast, Maximizing the Benefits of Comprehensive Genomic Testing in Cancer Care with Golden Helix CancerKB 2.0, was an opportunity to unveil Golden Helix CancerKB v2.0. Our latest VarSeq release was designed to address the changing landscape of cancer genomics, and in this webcast, we discussed the application of our very own Golden Helix CancerKB in the context of… Read more »
