Blog
January 16, 2019
Q&A: Scientists Discovered Somatic Recombination in the Brain. Now What?
The recent Nature paper describing the first evidence of somatic gene recombination in the human brain has been getting so much attention that we went back to the lab’s PI…
January 15, 2019
One For All: HiFi Long Reads for de Novo Assembly and Comprehensive Variant Detection
UPDATED August 12, 2019 This paper is now published in Nature Biotechnology. ORIGINAL POST January 15, 2019 We’re excited to report on new SMRT Sequencing advances that will ultimately help…
January 14, 2019
Webinar Recap: SMRT Sequencing offers Many Advantages for Microbial Research
According to many, PacBio is the new “gold standard” in microbial sequencing. Chief Scientific Officer Jonas Korlach notes that its ability to simultaneously provide long sequencing reads (genome contiguity), high…
January 9, 2019
Scientists Resolve Epilepsy-Causing Repeat Expansion with Sequel System
Scientists in Japan report using the unique properties of SMRT Sequencing to detect a structural variant (SV) responsible for a hereditary form of epilepsy. The 4.6 kb intronic repeat insertion…
January 8, 2019
SMRT Grant Winner: Uncovering the Metabolic Secrets of Hibernation
What has four legs, lots of fat and fur, and will possibly help uncover novel mechanisms to combat diabetes? Grizzly bears! If humans were to undergo regular, extended cycles of…
December 27, 2018
An Outstanding Year of SMRT Science: 2018 Publication Review
Scientists were certainly sequencing with confidence in 2018, as evidenced by the number of significant and wide-ranging advancements made using SMRT Sequencing technology, several of which made the cover of…
December 26, 2018
SMRT Sequencing — The PacBio Spirit of Past, Present, and Future
In the rapidly evolving world of DNA sequencing, the community is often focused on what’s new and what’s next. There’s not much opportunity for retrospection. But two recent articles offer…
December 24, 2018
Looking Forward to Sequencing Advances and Novel Findings at PMWC 2019
Advances in personalized medicine — whether it’s the discovery of a new pathogenic variant or a success story about a patient treated with a tailored therapy — seem to be…
December 21, 2018
The Genomic Gift Worth Giving: New Assembly Could Help Conserve Declining Turtle Dove Populations
You may be more likely to get five gold rings or three French hens than two Turtle doves this Christmas. The subject of the famous holiday carol is in precipitous…
December 19, 2018
New Low-Input Protocol Enables High-Quality Genome Created from Single Mosquito
UPDATED January 18, 2019 This paper is now available at Genes. ORIGINAL POST December 19, 2018 High-quality reference and de novo genomes have been celebrated by geneticists, population biologists and conservationists…
December 17, 2018
Alzheimer’s Study Reveals First Somatic Gene Recombination Found in Human Neurons
Scientists in California recently released exciting results that could offer an entirely new approach to treating the most common form of Alzheimer’s disease. The project, which was reported in a…
December 13, 2018
A Sweet Sequence: Sugarcane Genome Assembly After Five-Year Collaborative Effort
It took nearly 20 years until the technology was right, and five years of hard graft by more than 100 scientists from 16 institutions, but the result was worth it,…
December 10, 2018
Targeted PacBio Sequencing Adds to Scientific Arsenal in Evolutionary Arms Race
Cotton crops the world over have benefited from the pest-killing protein from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), first used in sprays and then, in 1996, transgenic crops, resulting in reduced insecticide use,…
December 3, 2018
Barn Swallow Project Helps Introduce PacBio Long Read Technology to Italy
Its reliable return to the same spot year after year has made the barn swallow a beloved symbol of Spring and safe passage, for mariners and landlubbers alike. But our…
November 28, 2018
Tracking the Tuna: How PacBio Sequencing Could Help Save the “King of the Sea”
Their bodies are big, bony and… warm? Unique among bony fish, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern bluefin tuna have a rare endothermic physiology that has garnered great interest among scientists. Like…