That’s the key idea put forth in preliminary research posted this month to bioRxiv, authored by GSC, UBC and BC Children's Hospital Research Institute scientists, that highlights the potential benefits of testing COVID-19 patients for genetic variants of ACE2—the protein identified as the point-of-entry for the SARS-COV-2 virus into human cells.
News
New study illustrates benefits of long-read sequencing technology for precision oncology
Whole genome sequencing has revolutionized cancer treatment planning, enabling the rapid detection of DNA mutations not routinely screened for in the clinic. Until recently, however, scientists were limited in their ability to detect large structural genetic variants using short-read sequencing technology. But with the recent release of long-read sequencing instruments, cancer researchers have been eager to see what such technology could mean for precision oncology.
New sequence simulator helps leverage power of long-read transcriptome sequencing
Long-read sequencing technologies are increasingly being employed by researchers to gain important insights into the transcriptomes of cells, revealing a need for computational tools designed for long-read RNA sequencing analysis. To facilitate software development, researchers have now created a sequence simulator designed to produce simulated long-read transcriptome data, providing a cost-effective means to help develop, refine and benchmark novel tools for data analysis.
Researchers at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer recognized with Team Science Award
Today the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has awarded teams associated with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)—including three researchers from Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (GSC) at BC Cancer—with a 2020 AACR team science award.
GSC scientists uncover the complex physical structure of the Sitka spruce mitochondrial genome
After billions of years of evolution, all animals, plants and fungi still share one important feature: the mitochondria; the so-called “powerhouse of the cell”. DNA sequencing technology has revealed that, when compared to their animal cell counterparts, some plant mitochondrial genomes are highly complex, forming intricate structures that remain to be understood by scientists.
How B.C. scientists are addressing the COVID-19 testing challenge
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, public health authorities around the world are facing a significant challenge: ensuring a large enough supply of reagents to scale-up diagnostic testing. Researchers at Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer (GSC), the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) are working to develop new non-proprietary reagents to support current and future testing in British Columbia.
Aging-associated inflammation as a driver of myeloid malignancies
The single most significant risk factor for the development of cancer is age, and researchers have now used transcriptomics to uncover an age-related genetic explanation for blood cancers called myeloid malignancies.
The long and the short of it: scientists develop a tool for rapid genome assembly
Rapid advancements in DNA sequencing have spurred the development of commercial technologies capable of enormous throughput, reducing both the amount of time and money required to sequence a genome and shifting the bottleneck from obtaining DNA sequences to assembling and analyzing them. But a new tool has now come into play, reducing both the time and computational power needed to combine the millions of pieces of a genome into one complete picture.
B.C. scientists to begin genetic sequencing on Canadians with COVID-19
As part of a federal funding announcement earlier today, Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (GSC) at BC Cancer will be one of four Canadian institutions on the forefront of using genome science to understand how different people respond to COVID-19 infection.
Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre respectfully acknowledges that we operate on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) nations who have cared and nurtured this land for all time. We give thanks, as uninvited guests, to be able to live and work on these lands.
