Tag Archives: genomics
Play it again, SAMtools. Q&A with the SAMtools team on 12 years of providing bioinformatics “glue”
Scott Edmunds - February 17, 2021
Today we publish the first update in 12 years describing what’s new in SAMtools, and for the first time the associated BCFtools and HTSlib software library. Here is a Q&A with the authors.
Ukraine Genome Survey Adds Missing Pieces to Human Diversity Puzzle
Scott Edmunds - January 13, 2021
The Ukraine Genome Project finds quarter of the genetic variation in Europe, dramatically increasing information on population diversity and medical genetics.
Cracking sex chromosome evolution via egg-laying birds and mammals
Scott Edmunds - January 7, 2021
Ducks, Emu’s, Platypus and Echidna’s, oh my! New work on the duck and other egg-laying animal genomes helps crack sex chromosomes evolution and diversity in a number of bird and monotreme species.
New beginnings during a pandemic – the COVID year in review
Hans Zauner - December 17, 2020
Looking back at this unusual year, we are happy to report that GigaScience not only kept going under difficult circumstances, publishing outstanding examples of Big Data science and introducing innovations in the review process. We also opened a new chapter with the launch of a sister journal, GigaByte .
iPhone Genomics: beaming us up to the “tricorder” era
Scott Edmunds - December 8, 2020
The 1st comprehensive mobile genome analysis application, iGenomics, is now available for use on an iphone. By pairing an smartphone with a handheld DNA sequencer, users will be able to create a mobile genetics laboratory, reminiscent of the Star Trek’s tricorder.
A New Monitoring Tool Empowering Infectious Disease Detectives
Scott Edmunds - October 22, 2020
Out this week in GigaScience is a new monitoring tool empowering infectious disease detectives. Scientists in Cambodia, who are supported by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, used the new IDseq tool to help confirm and sequence the whole genome of the country’s first case of COVID-19. Read more here.
Updates from sequencing the tree of life. Biodiversity Genomics 2020
Biodiversity Genomics 2020 was a virtual event aiming to bring together researchers across the world to “sequence life for the future of life”, sequencing all of the corners of the tree of life.
Diversity, Ancestry, and the Tenacious Concept of Race: GigaScience at GA4GH
Chris Armit - October 5, 2020
Diversity, Ancestry, and the Tenacious Concept of Race The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) is a policy-framing and technical standards-setting organization, seeking to enable responsible genomic data sharing within a human rights framework. GigaScience are organisational members, and their meeting often coincides with the American Society of Genetics meeting that sometimes participate in […]
Nectar, fruits, and blood. A genomic view on the feeding habits of bats.
Hans Zauner - June 9, 2020
Bats are mammals like no other – airborne, mostly nocturnal, often hidden away in caves, capable of using echolocation for in-flight navigation. No two bat species are alike, however. Their diversity of morphology, life styles and feeding habits is staggering. New bat genomics research published today in GigaScience explores the footprints of evolution, to explain […]
DNA day 2020: The genomes of Dominette and Esperanza
Hans Zauner - April 25, 2020
It’s DNA day, celebrating two historic milestones: The publication of the structure of DNA in 1953, and the completion of the human genome project in 2003. What better occasion could there be to take a step back and marvel at the breath-taking progress in genomics over the years. For this year’s special DNA day blog, GigaScience […]