Blog
September 5, 2017
Medical-Grade Psychotropic May Be Feasible Thanks to New Genomics Study
A recent paper in the journal Angewandte Chemie describes using SMRT Sequencing to characterize biosynthesis of a psychotropic product in Psilocybe carpophores, better known as magic mushrooms. Scientists from the Hans…
August 31, 2017
Sequel System Data Release: Iso-Seq Results for Hummingbird and Zebra Finch Brain Tissue
If you’re interested in avian vocal learning or want to explore a PacBio Iso-Seq data set generated with the Sequel System, we have good news. We’ve just released data from…
August 28, 2017
With Iso-Seq Study, Scientists Reveal Complexity of Rabbit Transcriptome
A new paper in Scientific Reports presents results from a transcriptome analysis for Oryctolagus cuniculus. The work was done with SMRT Sequencing, which allowed scientists to discover novel transcripts and…
August 24, 2017
Software Tools Optimized for Long Reads Improve Detection of Complex Structural Variants
[Update April 30, 2018: This paper is now published in Nature Methods.] Sniffles and NGMLR, structural variant detection and alignment algorithms developed in the Schatz lab for long-read sequence data,…
August 15, 2017
In Bake-Off, SMRT Sequencing Generates Highest-Quality, Cost-Effective Bacterial Assembly
Scientists from the University of Hong Kong recently reported results of a head-to-head comparison of long-read and short-read platforms for sequencing and assembly of a bacterial genome. They determined that…
August 9, 2017
Iso-Seq Analysis Reveals Differential Expression in Male and Female Abalones
Earlier this year, scientists from Korea reported results from a transcriptome study of Pacific abalone. In this paper, the team used SMRT Sequencing to demonstrate that alternative splicing and gene…
August 7, 2017
SMRT Sequencing Shines at ISAG: First Sequel System Bovine Genome Presented
If you weren’t at the 36th International Society for Animal Genetics Conference in Dublin, you missed more than a chance to drink Guinness and practice an Irish brogue. The PacBio…
August 3, 2017
At Baltimore UGM, New Tools and Research Breakthroughs with SMRT Sequencing
We were delighted to be back at the University of Maryland this summer for our annual East Coast User Group Meeting. The day-long event, preceded by half-day workshops on sample…
August 1, 2017
To Resolve KIR Region, Scientists Pair SMRT Sequencing with Fosmid Cloning
A paper from scientists at the National Marrow Donor Program, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and other institutions reports the use of…
July 27, 2017
At SMBE 2017, SMRT Sequencing Fuels Genome Assemblies for Evolution Studies
We enjoyed attending the annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Austin earlier this month. Some 1,500 people attend SMBE, which this year offered cutting-edge sessions…
July 20, 2017
‘A Quiet Revolution’: SMRT Sequencing Powers Increasing Genome Assembly Quality
A news article in Science magazine nicely captures the improvements in the quality of genome assemblies made possible by long-read sequencing and other methods. “New technologies boost genome quality” was…
July 19, 2017
New Assembly for Complex Bread Wheat Genome: 10 Times Higher Contiguity
UPDATE: This preprint is now published! Check it out in the November 2017 issue of GigaScience. In a new bioRxiv preprint, scientists from Johns Hopkins present a major step forward…
July 18, 2017
Novogene to Build Database of Structural Variants in 1,000 Chinese Genomes Using SMRT Sequencing
In an effort to improve precision medicine in Chinese populations, Novogene announced plans to build a database of structural variants in 1,000 Chinese individuals using PacBio SMRT Sequencing. Databases which…
July 11, 2017
Population Genomics Study Shows Faster Evolution in Domesticated Yeast
In a Nature Genetics paper, scientists used SMRT Sequencing to detect and compare structural variations in several yeast strains in order to understand evolutionary genome dynamics. They found different rates…
July 6, 2017
For High-Quality Ant Genomes, Scientific Alliance Chooses SMRT Sequencing
The Global Ant Genomics Alliance (GAGA) recently announced that it has adopted SMRT Sequencing as its technology of choice for generating high-quality genome assemblies. The alliance, made up of more…