October 2008

Advances in genome sciences and the approaches used to study them continue to develop at an incredible pace. To help you get up to speed, the IGSP offers Genome Academy, a topical learning series on the technologies and tools you need to begin or enhance your own genome research projects. Courses offered this fall will commence on October 7th with an introduction to Unix. A six-session course on PERL II - arguably the most popular language in the field of bioinformatics - will follow, and the series will wrap up on November 12th with an Introduction to Sun Grid Engine.

Registration for the free workshops is open now. Seats are filling quickly, but a limited number of spots are still available for PERL II and Sun Grid Engine. The first Intro to Unix course is full, but a second session scheduled for November 5th has just opened. For more details go to Genome Academy or contact Shandra Robertson to register.

IGSP Funds 'Next-Gen' Sequencing Studies
The IGSP has announced a series of seed grants to use "next-generation" DNA sequencing technology for studies ranging from basic biology to clinical medicine.

A Dissenting Voice as the Genome is Sifted to Fight Disease
In a New York Times "Scientist at Work" profile, the IGSP's David Goldstein says the effort to nail down the genetics of most common diseases is not working.

Gene Domino Effect Behind Brain, Pancreatic Tumors
Phil Febbo comments in an Associated Press article on the discovery that clusters of seemingly disparate genes all work along the same pathways to turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers.

Rare Variants Seen as Next Frontier in Untangling Genetic Differences in HIV Response
David Goldstein outlined strategies for mining the genome for rare but highly penetrant variants influencing HIV response at a meeting in Cambridge, GenomeWeb reports.

Cancer Special Could Fund Duke Research
A report featuring Kelly Marcom on local TV station WRAL highlighted "cutting edge" IGSP research being done to match different types of breast cancer with different types of treatment.

DNA Part May Play Role in Limb Formation
On National Public Radio, Greg Wray says that a technique used to find a hidden stretch of DNA crucial to human thumb development should reveal a lot about evolution.

Junk DNA May Have Handed us a Gripping Future
Greg Wray comments in New Scientist magazine on a recently discovered bit of "junk" DNA found only in humans that may have contributed to our manual dexterity.

Jews and Their DNA
An article on Jewish historical genetics in Commentary Magazine features David Goldstein's new book Jacob's Legacy: A Genetic View of Jewish History.

Book Review: High Anxiety
In a Nature Genetics book review, Misha Angrist says Masha Gessen's Blood Matters about life as a BRCA1 mutation carrier at risk for early-onset breast cancer "demonstrates both her independence and her willingness to tweak dogma."

Toward the Individualization of Lung Cancer Therapy
In the journal Cancer, Ariel Anguiano, Joe Nevins and Anil Potti say that "new genomic tools provide the opportunity to develop rational strategies for treating the individual lung cancer patient."

F-Seq: A Feature Density Estimator for High-Throughput Sequence Tags
In the journal Bioinformatics, Alan Boyle, Justin Guinney, Greg Crawford and Terry Furey present their software package F-Seq, which allows identification of biologically meaningful sites in high-throughput sequencing data. The software is available for download.

Genetics: Enhancing Gene Regulation
In a Science Perspectives piece, Greg Wray and Courtney Babbitt say that decades after the first speculation about the evolutionary importance of regulatory mutations, scientists are in a position to begin testing the idea in earnest.

Terrie Moffitt was awarded the Klaus-Grawe Award for the Advancement of Innovative Research in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for her research in the interrelation between genetic disposition and environmental factors in the development of problem behavior.

Jun Zhu is the recipient of a Komen grant for investigation of "Dasatinib Sensitivity and Resistance In Breast Cancer Cells: Rationale For Patient Selection and Treatment Design."

Ashley Chi is the recipient of a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project entitled "The Genomic Analysis of Erythrocyte microRNA in Sickle Cell Diseases."

Philip Benfey and John Harer have received a grant from the National Science Foundation for "Genome-Wide Analysis of Root Traits."

Susanne Haga has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project entitled "Pharmacogenetic Testing: Challenges of Clinical Integration."

Jeffrey Chang, a post-doc in Joe Nevins' lab, has received a National Institutes of Health grant for a project entitled "Functional Components of the Rb/E2F and p53 Pathways."

Ken Kawamoto has received a National Institutes of Health Mentored Research Scientist Development Award for a project entitled "Enabling Personalized Medicine through Clinical Decision Support."

For full details and the latest updates on IGSP seminars and events, see the Events Calendar

A selection of upcoming events:

Wednesday, October 1st
Systems Biology Seminar
Reka Albert from Penn State will present "Modeling Complex Biological Systems."

Wednesday, October 1st
Computational Biology Seminar
Karen Mohlke from UNC will present "Common Genetic Variants for Metabolic and Cardiovascular Traits."

Thursday, October 2nd
Genomic Medicine Forum
Kelly Marcom will give an update on the breast cancer genomics trials.

Monday, October 6th
Cancer Genomics Seminar
Andrew Shaw will present "Genetic, Behavioral and Clinical Predictors of Pain in Lung Cancer Patients."

Tuesday, October 7th
Tuesday Seminar Series
Meta Kuehn will give a lecture on "Bacterial Vesicles: Genes, Stress and Virulence."

Tuesday, October 7th
Genome Biology Meeting
Alok Tewari in the Febbo lab will present.

Friday, October 10th
3rd Annual Duke Systems Biology Symposium
The symposium will include a full day of talks from guest speakers including Tom Mitchell-Olds, Tony Dean (University of Minnesota), Greg Wray and Trudy Mackay (N.C. State). Registration Required.

Friday, October 17th
Science & Society Journal Club
Kiani Arkus will present. RSVP Required.

Wednesday, October 22nd
Race, Genetics and Health Seminar
Joseph Graves, Jr., will present "Is There a Genetic Definition of Race?" RSVP by October 8th.

Thursday, October 30th
Genomes@4
Yoav Gilad from the University of Chicago will present "Gene Regulation in Primates Evolves under Tissue-Specific Selection Pressures."

A "Collaborative Studies on Systems Biology of Complex Phenotypes" grant program from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences will fund three or four research programs for up to four years with up to $250,000. Learn more.

The National Institutes of Health is accepting applications for projects that will broaden the pharmacogenomics evidence-base for use in clinical decision-making. Learn more.