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On January 21, we lost a giant in the fields of human genetics and genomics. Dr. David Cox died unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack while traveling on business in Florida. David was very helpful when HudsonAlpha Institute was being established, offering strategic advice as we formed a vision for our institute. He served on our Scientific Advisory Board as well, providing key expertise and helping to establish effective ways to hire and support our faculty and staff.
No one has done more to push Alabama’s image as a leader in biotechnology than Huntsville’s Jim Hudson, one of the founders of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.Spiraling in on animal development
In recent years scientists have determined the genome sequence of many animals, but many gaps still exist in the animal evolutionary tree. Headway was recently made, however, and three branches representing spiralian animals have now been sequenced. HudsonAlpha faculty investigator Jane Grimwood, Ph.D., contributed to the multi-institute study that spirals in on animal evolution. The study is published in the journal Nature.
Mushroom history could advance energy future
HUNTSVILLE, Ala.-- Fossil evidence suggests that coal deposits in the earth sharply decreased around the end of the Carboniferous period. Using genome sequence of fungi living now, Jeremy Schmutz from the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and colleagues around the world say mushrooms may hold the clues to this decrease while also providing insight to spur technical progress for cellulosic biofuels production.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - CFD Research Corporation, CFDRC, has been awarded a $1.3M grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop their novel in vitro Blood-Brain Barrier model. Building upon CFDRC’s patented and commercially available SynVivo platform, SynVivo-BBB is a cell-based microchip which allows co-culture of endothelial cells under physiological flow with neuronal and glial cells mimicking the in vivo environment.
Document Center
The following are important documents you will need to have while at HudsonAlpha.
Attached document:
Genomic variations play complex role in autism spectrum disorder
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Because autism spectrum disorders are so diverse, scientists have only found a few genetic factors that clearly contribute a risk of developing the condition. New work from HudsonAlpha, along with colleagues from Vanderbilt University, the Broad Institute and 11 other groups, has examined genome mutations in autism and concludes that the picture is still complex.
Scientists can now use genome sequencing to compare the genetic codes of parents and children, and look for new mutations in the children and not in the parents. These are called de novo mutations. In the case of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the new study compared 175 children with their parents, and found that de novo mutations only occurred slightly more than by chance.
Budget cuts hit labs and equipment manufacturers
News Outlet:
Nature
Date published:
November 1, 2011 
A DNA sequencing machine is one of the most expensive lab purchases a biologist can make. So it is no surprise that, with research funding falling and worse times ahead, institutions are holding off buying the devices, leaving manufacturers feeling the pinch. After a round of gloomy third-quarter results, many makers of sequencing machines are now hoping that cost cutting and expansion into medical diagnostics will help them to prosper again.
To read the rest of the story in Nature, click here.
